Held Loosely
by AutumnXMidnight
Summary: Komori Hoshi is just your average delinquent. She's shipped off to live in Japan, where she encounters the... not so normal events of growing up in a foreign country. Has been reedited.
1. A Second Chance

**Chapter One: A Second Chance ****一次第二机会**

Author's Note: This is the re-done, not as crappy version of chapter one. That's all. --AutumnXMidnight

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.  
_The Screwtape Letters_

I slumped back into my seat and sighed. I looked out the window and watched the world-my world-get smaller and smaller until everything turned into little black specks in the distance. This was, yet again, one of my mom's ill-fated endeavors to get me to 'straighten out'. She'd tried almost every approach imaginable, but I had always found a way to backfire her plans. That is, until she remembered her nephew that lived in Tokyo.

I remember when she came in day before yesterday to give me the news. It seemed like a pretty typical day: I was sitting on my bed, trying to figure out some music to the song I had written, when my mom walked in and, and I didn't know it then, but my whole life was about to change. When I was packing my bags, she said going to Tokyo would give me a second chance; an opportunity to start with a clean slate. So now, here I was, on a sixteen-hour flight to Tokyo. Wahoo. Jump with glee.

The plane flight was more miserable than sitting through math class. All I could recollect was going to sleep and then waking up a few hours later, completely disoriented. A few times the creepy Japanese dude that was sitting next to me would just start gibbering away in Japanese and all I could do was just sit there and look at him like he was a contagious germ. After I thought the pain would never stop, we finally landed on a singular strip of black runway. I trudged off the plane and into a rickety makeshift hallway that led to the gate. After managing to get through the swarming crowd of people in one piece, I emerged to the gate. I scanned the area for my cousin, Ryou. After hunting for him for a while, I started to wonder if I would be able to sneak on a plane back to New York. And it also struck me that I had no clue as to what he looked like. A handsome man with a flood of dark brown hair protruding from a ponytail turned his head towards me and regarded me for a minute. He strided over to me nonchalantly with his ponytail swishing behind him.

"Excuse me, miss. But would you happen to be Komori Hoshi?" he asked with a titanic (and kinda' creepy) smile on his face.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Are you Ryou?" I asked.

"Oh! I've forgotten my manners! I am Keiichirio Akasaka. I'm actually a close friend and business partner of Ryou's. He said to apologize for not being here: He had an important experiment he had to finish up."

"…..Riiiiight." I said slowly. After the influence I had from this Keiichiro guy, I expected Ryou to be a lot lamer than I had fantasized. _If Ryou talks like this Keiichiro guy, I'm catching the next plane back to New York. _Keiichiro's coffee-colored eyes drifted to my luggage.

"Oh! Please, Miss Hoshi, can I help you with your luggage? It looks awfully heavy." he offered, grabbing the heaviest pieces of luggage, which included my guitar.

"Um, wait! Here, I'll carry that one." I said clutching my guitar case.

"As you wish, Miss Hoshi." he said. I followed Keiichiro through the airport's automatic doors and out into the sweltering summer heat. It was times like these that I deeply regretted wearing all black and gray. Keiichiro led me to an incandescent black limo. _No way, we're riding in that?_ Keiichiro beamed and extended the limo's trunk.

"Allow me to put your luggage in the trunk, Miss Hoshi." Keiichiro said, stowing all the luggage into the trunk. I worried that the heat would mar my guitar and hugged the case to my chest. This man-servant stuff was pretty cool, but the 'Miss Hoshi' crap was starting to really bug me. Keiichiro then closed the trunk and outstretching a door to the limo.

"If you would, Miss Hoshi." He said, bowing chivalrously. I stooped into a cushy leather seat and put the A/C on full blast. I hoped it wouldn't be this hot all year, considering my dark wardrobe. "So, Miss Hoshi," Keiichiro said lowering himself into the limo, "Did you have a nice flight?"

I looked at him and said grumpily, "As nice as any sixteen-hour flight can be."

"Ah." Keiichiro responded quietly. With that, the limo started up with a spluttering bolt and thrusted out of the parking lot and continued down a crowded highway. A heavy silence encased us for a while, but boredom got the best of me.

"So….um, what do you do for a living, anyway?" Keiichiro looked down at the floor as if to ponder the question. He smiled and said, "I manage a café close to where Ryou lives. Ryou comes down whenever he can to help out."

"What does he do? Take orders?" I asked. Keiichiro laughed whole-heartedly. "He has too much pride to take orders from anyone. He usually helps with baking and such." _Right, baking…_ I inclined on the enflamed seat and sighed.

"You know, Miss Hoshi, your mother requested that you work in the café during your free time." Keiichiro said quietly. I crooked my neck a few degrees to face him.

"Heh, it doesn't surprise me. And, please, just call me Komori. That 'Miss Hoshi' crap is getting annoying." I snapped.

"Oh, please forgive me Miss- ah, Komori. And why weren't you surprised?"

"Because she's convinced that manual labor is the 'key to straightening me out'. She's always giving me chores. It's nothing new."

"Well, rest assured that working at Café Mew Mew is a lot more fun than it sounds." he said as he touched my shoulder knowingly. I shrugged off his assuring touch. I didn't need him. I didn't need anyone. After that burst of conversation we sat in silence for eons, it seemed. After I was becoming increasingly impatient, a sizable building materialized over a hill of pavement.

"Welcome to Chateau Shirogane!" Keiichiro announced.

"Dang, it's huge…" I whispered in astonishment.

"Mm-hmm. It's so big that Ryou put up maps everywhere so he won't get lost." Keiichiro explained with a teasing smile on his face.

"……Are you serious?" I asked, looking at him with distaste.

"One hundred percent!" he laughed, unable to hear the enmity in my voice. The limo pulled into the driveway that led to the house-if you could call it that: It looked more like a castle or mansion you would find in some sort of fairy tale. Balconies and bay windows dotted across all the sides of the chateau. The top of a garden rose over a high, overgrown brick wall as we drove by. The limo stopped directly in front of the chateau, which was so tall that I had to lean all the way back to see the shingles that lined the high roof. Keiichiro slid out of the car and held the door for me. I followed Keiichiro to the trunk and helped him unload my luggage. He strolled up the stairs leading to the doors and pressed an intercom button by the door. I walked up and stood by Keiichiro.

"Ryou, we're here, open up." he said into the intercom. We lingered for about ten minutes with no answer. Keiichiro pressed the intercom again and yelled impatiently, "Ryou! Get your nose out of whatever book you're reading and open this door!" This time a voice answered.

"My, my. Someone's in a bad mood today, Keiichiro. Is she here?" the voice crackled.

"Yes! Yes! She's here! Now open this door!" Keiichiro yelled. _Hm, the best of friends._ After another couple of minutes of annoyed waiting, the door creaked open to welcome us inside from the sweltering heat.


	2. Ryou the Genius

**Chapter Two: Ryou the Genius ****天才**

"Honestly, Keiichiro, you know how long it takes me to find the front door!" A tall blonde man said as he answered the door.

"Then hire maids to answer it for you." Keiichiro grumbled. The blonde man turned to face me. _Hey, he's pretty hot…Ugh! What am I thinking? He's my cousin!_

"Ah! You're Komori, right? It's nice to finally meet you!" he said as he shook my hand.

"Same here." I said quietly.

"Here, I'll try to give you a tour of the chateau, but knowing me, I'll probably get lost," Ryou chuckled to himself, "So I guess I'll just show you to your room for now." He grabbed the luggage I had been carrying and said, "Follow me, guys." Ryou led us through a labrynth of stairs and hallways until he came to one specific door. He walked inside and laid the luggage onto a pink four-poster bed. I looked around the room in disbelief. Everything was…..pink….and…..frilly. _Oh, dear God, I'm gonna be living in this room of pink! Frilly, disgusting pink!_

"Sorry for all the …overly girlish décor, but it was the only room that was fit enough for someone to live in and I didn't have time to refurnish it." Ryou apologized.

"Erm…That's all right. I guess I'll get used to it." I said with a forced smile.

"I'll let you unpack. Come downstairs for dinner after you finish. If you get lost just use the maps on the wall." Ryou said and left with Keiichiro. I flopped down on my Pepto Bismol-colored bed and began to unpack. In the room there was an armoire and a closet. I took all my clothes and somehow managed to jam them inside the armoire's drawers. I had to tackle the drawers a few times, but I made it all fit. Then I carefully took my prized guitar and sat it inside the closet for safekeeping.

**Meanwhile, downstairs…****同时，楼下**

Ryou sat at the table in the kitchen with his face in his hands. Keiichiro put his hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Ryou," Keiichiro said, "Are you sure it's safe for her to be living here?" Ryou looked up and gave Keiichiro a small smile.

"She needed to come here, Keiichiro. My aunt said that it was her best chance to change."

"I know, but with all those experiments going on, do you think any would harm her…or change her? We don't want a repeat of seven years ago, do we?" Keiichiro whispered.

"I know, but I've been more careful about safety hazards lately. I don't think it's anything to worry about, Keiichiro," he whispered, "Besides, the odds of a Mew Mew accident happening again are so slim."

**Back upstairs…****回楼下**

After all the unpacking was done, I attempted to go downstairs. Well, after about twenty wrong turns and three temper tantrums, I finally made it to the kitchen. When I walked in, Keiichiro and Ryou were whispering something, about what, I could only guess. Ryou turned when he saw me and grinned.

"It didn't take you as long as I thought it would. I guess you have a better sense of direction than I do." he said laughing. That night we had pizza for dinner, which threw me off just a bit. "Sorry, I'm still trying to unpack all the cooking stuff." Ryou laughed.

"Did you just move in?" I asked. Keiichiro snickered. "Well, ah…no, I'm just too lazy to unpack it all." Ryou said quietly with an embarrassed smile on his face. After dinner I was completely exhausted and went upstairs (after the usual wrong turns and such) to go to sleep.


	3. Cafe Mew Mew

**Chapter Three: Café Mew Mew ****咖啡屋巢巢**

That morning I woke up still expecting to be in my usual dark, dirty room, but awoke to a clean, pink….fluffy one instead. _This is gonna take some getting used to…_ I dressed in my morbid garb and attempted to go downstairs again. After I managed to get there, I saw Keiichiro and Ryou waiting for me in the lobby just outside of the kitchen.

"Good morning, Komori. Would you like to go down to Café Mew Mew with us?" Keiichiro offered.

"Yeah, sure." I yawned, still half-asleep.

"Oh, you already know about the café! That saves me from having to explain everything!" Ryou said happily. Keiichiro rolled his eyes and led us out of the house and into the warm summer morning. The limo that Keiichiro and I had ridden in from the airport yesterday was parked to the side of the driveway. I ambled over to the limo, fully expecting us to ride in it, while Keiichiro and Ryou continued to meander the other way. _Huh?_ I saw Keiichiro pause and look around in bewilderment. He spotted me leaning against the limo with a stupid look on my face. Keiichiro motioned for me to join them with a wave of his hand.

"Komori! We're walking! The café's only around the corner!" he laughed good-naturedly. I sprinted over to them with my head tilted down, trying to hide the flush of red that blotted my face. Ryou and Keiichiro laughed for a while over my act of stupidity, but got tired of it after a while and started blathering away about some sort of cake mixture. _Living with these two clowns is gonna suck._ As we turned the corner, I spotted what I thought was a giant cupcake. When we fully turned the corner, a sign that was brimming with more pink than my room hovered over the giant 'cupcake' that read 'Café Mew Mew'. This wasn't exactly the kind of look for a café you'd think two (straight) grown men would choose. The café was embellished with hearts and several candy-like designs, which could have passed as real candy. _What the frickin' crap?_ Keiichiro saw the look on my face and laughed.

"You'll be surprised when you see how much business we get!" he said and led us through the oh-so-feminine door. The inside didn't improve my opinion at all. It was just as (and if possible, worse) than the outside. The whole café reminded me of an icing-covered gingerbread palace.

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew! Hmm…I guess since you're going to be working here you're going to need a uniform…Where did I put those again, Keiichiro?" Ryou proclaimed.

"Oh, the old ones are in the storage room." Keiichiro replied, tossing Ryou the key.

"I guess I'll go dig it out then." Ryou said as he ran through a pair of swinging doors, of which I assumed led to the storage room.

"Don't tell me," I said warily, "The uniform's pink." Keiichiro looked at me and smiled knowingly.

"Nah, we decided we used too much pink while decorating the café, so we decided that having the uniform pink might be going overboard." After I was about to ask what color it _was_, Ryou bounded in holding something that was red and frilly that looked suspiciously like a dress.

"Here, this should be about right." he said as he tossed it to me.

"Well, what do you think?" Keiichiro asked eagerly.

"Well, it's….very interesting." I said (which was the only nice thing I could say about it). I held the semi-skimpy uniform up to me. The end of the dress landed about six inches above my knee, and underneath the skirt was a sort of overly-inflated undershorts. The dress came over a collared shirt as a heart-shaped apron.

"Looks like it'll fit," Ryou said, "How about starting work tomorrow?" I was pretty okay with starting work, but one thing was bothering me. "Wait, how can I work if I can't even speak Japanese?" I asked.

"Eh, don't worry; I have an invention that can fix that. I can hook it up tonight." Ryou said. I sighed blearily. I was concerned about what sort of invention Ryou was going to 'hook up' and _where_ he was going to hook it up. It looked as if there was no way around it.

"All right. I'll start tomorrow." I conceded. Later on, as I was going to bed, Ryou marched in with what looked like a gigantic microchip in his hand that had small probes emanating from its center.

"Um, Ryou, is this going to hurt?" I asked nervously, staring at the sharp points of the probes. He placed the chip onto my head and bore down on it until it was firmly stuck to my head. He applied a small touch on the top of the chip and a sharp sting rippled through my forehead. I felt the skin around that was around the chip, then lowered my hand to see a small trickle of blood smeared on my forefinger. _Oh, that's just lovely…_

"It's relatively harmless. It just feeds information into your brain while you're asleep, when you're most susceptible to memorizing information. I used it when I first moved to Tokyo." Ryou explained. _Wait, **relatively** harmless?_

"Right, well, thanks." I said, looking down with my eyes watering from the pain of the probes that were fixated into my skull.

"No prob. Be sure to get some sleep, you've got a busy day ahead of you." He said as he walked out of the room and shut off the lights. _I hate my life…_


	4. Minimum Wage and Locked Doors

**Chapter Four: Minimum Wage and Locked Doors ****最低工资和锁门**

When I woke up I could feel the microchip digging into my head. When I tried to pull it off, a huge surge of pain enveloped my head and I was forced to stop pulling. _Well, maybe Ryou knows how to take it off. I mean, it's his invention after all._ I looked over at the armoire and spotted the revolting café uniform hanging from it and knew it was going to be a _very _long day. All I really wanted to do was sit in my room and play my guitar and get the year over with. Was that too much to ask for? None of this was my fault anyways…Well, okay, it sort of was:

Let's just say I made friends with the wrong people. You know the kind, piercing everything, doing drugs, that sort of stuff. My trouble started with this gang that had formed at school. They were the cool people. Everyone wanted to be in their little coterie of juvenile delinquents. I had just transferred to that school, so I didn't have that many friends; I was looked upon as 'that weird new kid'. One day, the ringleader of the group (his nickname was Crusher or something like that…I don't remember.) came up to me.

"Hey. You're the new kid right?" he said. He sounded like he was stoned.

"Um, y-yeah…" I stuttered tentatively. 'Crusher' had a very extensive reputation.

"Hm. Ya' know, I been watchin' you. You seem pretty cool. How 'bout hangin' out with me an' a couple of friends tonight?"

"You mean you want me to hang out with you guys?" I asked hopefully. It had been a dream come true.

"That's what I said, ain't it?" he said in an exasperated tone.

"Well…okay. Sure." I replied quietly, trying to keep myself from jumping up and down and screaming at the prospect of having friends.

"Cool. We'll be down at the skate park. Nine o'clock. Don't be late." he announced then nonchalantly strolled down the hall. The skate park was filled with the Future Drug Addicts and Serial Killers of America along with their skateboards. 'Crusher' and the rest of his crew sat out to the side and observed the skaters, occasionally commenting on a 'way rad move'. I sat at the edge of the crowd, watching everyone have a good time. 'Crusher' motioned for me to come to the center of the circle of conversation that had formed. I did so. 'Crusher' stood up.

"Hey guys. This is ….uh…" he said, forgetting my name.

"Komori Hoshi." I answered.

"Is that Spanish or something?" said a girl that sat next to 'Crusher' that had at least twenty piercings in each eyebrow.

"No," I replied, "It's Japanese."

"Right, right." She said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. The grey ring of smoke drifted to me and made my eyes water, while the smell made my lungs feel like they were caving in. She looked up and offered one to me, waving it back and forth in my face. "Here." I forehandedly picked the cigarette from her outstretched palm at and stared at it in disgust. Everyone was staring at me and noticed the face that I made.

"What's wrong? Scared of a little smoke?" the girl taunted as she stuck a lighter into my other hand. A wave of mocking laughter rippled through the crowd.

"N-no. Of course not." I said, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep puff. Everything started to burn, like I had swallowed a bonfire. My eyes squinted as I coughed up the smoke that I had been dumb enough to exhale. 'Crusher' patted me on the back.

"The first one's always pretty tough." I hadn't realized it, but that had been some sort of initiation into the crowd. Before I knew it, I had too many friends to count. I also was out almost every night hanging with my 'friends'. My mom started to worry at this point, after seeing me wearing more black than usual and also catching me attempting to pierce my tongue. After that, she started trying to 'straighten me out'. Nothing really worked; it actually made me worse. I guess it had gotten so bad that the only thing to do was to send me away… So it's my fault for even getting involved with all those jerks. They weren't that fun to hang with anyways now that I looked back on it.

I slipped out of my pajama pants and ripped up T-shirt and into the overly-flouncy café uniform. The only part that I didn't completely loathe about the entire outfit was the shoes, which were a slightly faded grey. I looked myself over in the mirror.

"I look like a freaking Barbie doll." I muttered in self-loathing disgust. I shook my head and started the trek downstairs; surprisingly, I only took five wrong turns that time. I saw Keiichiro sitting at the table sipping a steaming cup of coffee. He looked up.

"Ah, good morning, Komori! Are you ready to start your first day at Café Mew Mew?" he asked politely.

"No. I'm not really a morning person, you know?" I yawned.

"You're probably still on New York time…Um, I'm guessing Ryou didn't tell you how to get that giant microchip off your head?" he snickered.

"Nope, and I already tried pulling it off." I said, shielding my forehead. Keiichiro laughed another one of his infamous laughs.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to yank it off or anything." He said as he leaned towards my forehead. After pressing the microchip in almost every imaginable place, it made a minute 'CLICK!' and finally removed its cuspated probes from my head. I rubbed my forehead, hoping it would ease the pain. "Nn." I groaned. Keiichiro glanced at his watch and gasped.

"We'd better get down to the café!" Keiichiro said as he grabbed me by the hand and led me out the door at full speed and led me to the café in a full-fledged sprint. By the time Keiichiro and I had reached the front door we were both gasping for breath.

"I guess this is a sign that I should start working out more." Keiichiro wheezed. He unlocked the café and we stepped inside, still tired from the run.

"Okay, Komori. Your job is to greet the customers, seat them, take their orders, and deliver the food. Don't worry; I'll be helping you out too." He instructed after gaining his breath back. Suddenly his watch flashed and made a slight _beep_; Keiichiro glanced down at it. "But first there's something I have to attend to. I'll return in a little while..." He said and briskly ran down the hallway that led to the storage rooms. _That's weird…_ I hauled myself up onto a table and sat there for a while, wishing I was back with my guitar and not in this stupid cafe. And then I heard a small jingling noise coming from the door. I looked up. _Oh, goody. A customer._ I jumped off the table, nabbed some menus, and rushed to the front to greet them. And then, to my surprise, said in fluent Japanese, "Welcome to Café Mew Mew." And that was pretty much what I did the whole day. I was lucky though; it wasn't very busy today. Maybe four parties per hour or so. I did wonder where Keiichiro had gone and what the crap was keeping him this long.

"I'm sorry, it took so much longer than I expected, Komori!" Keiichiro apologized. We continued to work a little longer, until it was about an hour until closing time.

"Komori, could you go to the freezer in the storage area to get some vanilla ice cream?" Keiichiro called from the kitchen. I nodded and walked down through the hallway that led to the freezer. But my problem was that there were about five different doors along the hallway. Which one was the freezer, I could only guess. I opened the first door. Plain storage. Same with the second. I tried to open the third door, but it felt like it was locked. Thinking that it might be the freezer and the handle just froze over, I pulled and yanked on the door handle. And that's when I saw it. A deep, eerie green glow shone out from under the door. Surprised, I fell back onto the floor, staring at the door in shock. _That's definitely not the freezer!_ I scrambled up and checked the other doors, finding the freezer and the vanilla ice cream, still shaken. At the end of the day, Keiichiro came up to me and patted me on the back.

"You did an excellent job today, Komori!" Keiichiro praised. I leaned on the nearest table and took a deep breath.

"Thanks." I sighed.

"Oh, before I forget," he said holding up an envelope, "Here's your pay for today."

"Pay?" I asked.

"Well, sure! You didn't think I'd make you work yourself to the bone for nothing did you?" he laughed. I gave him a small smile back. _Yes, I did think you would._

_But what was behind that locked door?_


	5. Talents Unfolded

**Chapter five: Talents Unfolded ****才能伸展**

Working at the café yesterday had been some real tough stuff. Thankfully, Keiichiro decided to give me today off. _Yeeesss! No lame café uniform!_ As soon as I woke up I went straight to the closet to get my guitar. It was the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on; it had all sorts of different purples, reds, and yellows splashed over it like paint. But it also had a lot of sentimental value to me too. It used to be my Dad's guitar, until he left my mom and me eleven years ago, when I was just five. I wanted to hook up my amplifier, but I wasn't sure if Ryou was still asleep. Just to be safe, I closed my door. I dug through my stuff and found the notebook that I keep all my music in and thumbed through the papers to find a song to play.

"Hm, I think I'll play…."

"This one." I concluded, pulling out a piece of paper with the words, 'That's Just Me', scribbled across the top. It is a song that I wrote that, to this day, remains as my favorite. I caressed my guitar in my lap and began to strum the beginning notes.

**Meanwhile, down in the lab… ****同时，下面在实验室 **

Ryou had his face in his hands trying to desperately find the key to finishing his formula.

"So… if the amount of Chloride on the reactant side is still just one more than that of the product side, and everything else is even…" Ryou thought aloud.

"God, I hate balancing equations!" he yelled. And then he started to hear music. A cacophonous rock-and-roll melody played on the surveillance monitors. _That's it, I've finally snapped. I'm hearing music._

"Wait a minute…" he said, and walked out of the lab to the monitors that were stationed outside Komori's room.

**Back upstairs…****回楼下 **

"_Maybe I don't talk or walk the way you want me to,_

_I'm my own person, why would I bother to listen?_

_In the morning I look into the mirror and I see my face,_

_Longing only for my own space._

_So back off, shut up, whatever it takes, to make you see,_

_That's just me._

_We all express ourselves in different ways,_

_That's what gets everyone through tough days,_

_Even though I seem crazy and paranormal,_

_I'm just like you,_

_You'll see,_

_That's just me._

_Sometimes I don't make any sense,_

_You laugh every time I make my presence,_

_Absolutely, Completely, Individual,_

_Seeing everything you can't see,_

_That's just me._

_So crazy and outrageous,_

_Super-sweet, and contagious,_

_Only understanding will make you see,_

_This song's all about me_." I sang.

I strummed the ending notes on my guitar, and stood up on my bed. "Woo!" I laughed.

"That was pretty good, Komori." a voice at the door praised.

"AHH!" I said as I lost balance and fell over.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you." Ryou laughed.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" I yelled.

"Sorry, I just heard it from my lab and I came up to see what it was."

"Dang, was I playing it that loud?." I said, looking down.

"Hm? Oh, no I actually have microphones in all the hallways, so I guess one of them picked it up. Did you write it?"

"Yeah." Ryou nodded his head.

"Pretty good. Hey, how old are you anyway?" Ryou asked.

"I'm sixteen." I replied.

"You're sixteen and already have grey in your hair." Ryou joked, tugging at the purple streaks that bedecked my thick sheet of blonde hair. I yanked it out of his hand.

"They're _purple_." I corrected angrily.

"Right... Well, do you have any other songs?" he asked politely, probably to make up for the hair comment.

"Are you kidding me? I have tons."

"Let's hear some, then." Ryou said as he sat down on my bed. That day I think I played almost every song I'd ever written. It felt great to know someone in the family shared my enthusiasm for music. After I was done playing the jillions of songs that I had, Ryou started to inspect my guitar.

"Hm, it's in really good condition. Did you just buy it?" he asked.

"No, I've had it for eleven years." I replied.

"Eleven years? You've been playing this since you were five?" he said in shock.

"Not exactly. I got it when I was five; it used to belong to my dad." I said looking down. I knew he was about to ask what happened to Dad, but I think he saw the I-don't-really- want-to-talk-about-it look on my face.

"Righto, well, I really liked your songs Komori." he said and left. The summer started to fly by at breakneck speed; all the days became a fusion of boredom, assuaged only by playing my guitar…okay, and working at the café wasn't as lame as it sounds (there, I admitted it, okay?). The school year was just around the bend and things were going to start getting really weird. And when I say weird, I mean **WEIRD**.


	6. The Quiet One and Unlocked Doors

**Chapter Six: The Quiet One and Unlocked Doors ****平静一扇和未上锁的门**

It was Monday morning at seven o'clock. I was supposed to be getting ready for my first day of school, but after seeing the uniform I had to wear, I inched back under the covers. A knock came at my door.

"Komori, are you getting ready?" Ryou yelled through the door.

"I refuse to go to a school that forces me to wear a skirt every day and takes away my right to openly express myself! It's a violation of the U.S. Constitution!" came my agitated reply. Ryou barged in and tossed my uniform to me.

"We're in Japan, and the U.S. Constitution doesn't apply here." He scolded, pulling off the warm covers.

"Uhhnn." I groaned, squinting against the light that flooded the room.

"You're going. Who knows, you might make some good friends." Ryou affirmed and strided out. I groaned and slipped into the stupid uniform. The café uniform started to look pretty nice right about then. I ran downstairs (with no wrong turns!) and grabbed my books and a breakfast bar, having woken up late and no time to eat a whole breakfast.

"Hey, Ryou I'm leaving!" I yelled.

"'Bye!" he yelled back from the lobby. I sprinted outside and plunged into the limo at full speed. It was pretty cool that I got to ride in it to school, though, I had to admit. I munched on my breakfast bar the whole way there, trying to think of what kind of people I would meet. _It probably won't be any different from New York. Same little cliques and groups as always. That's one thing you can count on always being in high school. _ The limo pulled up to the front of a tall, almost cathedral-like building that ominously towered over everything, casting a dark shadow. This was the kind of place you would expect to find gargoyles at the top. _What a friendly-looking place._ Students were spread out all over the front lawn, chatting with their friends and comparing schedules. Quite a few noticed that a limo dropped me off and stared at me for a while, whispered to their friends next to them, then casually glanced away. I walked up the countless steps to the school's overhanging porch and sat on a vacated bench that sat was up on the porch near the doors. _Here goes another meaningless school year._

I surveyed the schoolyard: The preppies sat near a tall oak tree that was a few meters away from the porch; the Goths leaned against the sides of the ancient brick walls of the school, being…well, gothy; the jocks were shadowing the preppies by the oak tree….hm, and near the flagpole a small coterie of girls were picking on a smaller girl who appeared to be a freshman. Laughing, they grabbed her bookcase and shook all the papers out of it and then scrunching them into the ground, springing a cry from the girl; that made them laugh even harder. Seeing them pick on a defenseless girl made my blood boil. It brought back all those terrible and unwanted memories of the playground at elementary school, and how I had always spent it curled up in the corner of the jungle gym trying to shield myself from everyone's hurtful jeers. I leapt from my perch on the bench, jumped in front of the girl and yelled, "Hey! What are you picking on her for? She didn't do anything to you!" The bullies stood thunderstruck as I helped the girl gather her papers and get back to her feet.

"C'mon, you don't need to be taking this from these jerks." I said and led her away.

"Um, really, you didn't have to do that." the girl said looking down at the ground.

"I don't take crap from bullies," I said, "C'mon; you can come sit with me."

"Um, thanks." she said quietly. We sat down on the bench and waited for the bell to ring.

"Um, by the way," she said, "I'm Takara. Thank you for standing up for me."

"I'm Komori. It wasn't any trouble." I replied. She nervously glanced in the direction of the bullies.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. They're called the Leiko Gang. They can make your life a disaster." she shuddered.

"Well, my life can't get any worse than it has been. So, hey, how about we be buds?" I said, smiling brightly for the first time in months. She looked up hopefully.

"That would be….awesome!" she laughed. The bell rang shrilly, signaling school to start: we all flooded into school. I felt pretty good knowing that I wasn't completely alone at school anymore. The day went by pretty smoothly: At lunch time I sat with Takara. She seemed like an overall friendly person…although she did laugh too much. We sat at a table by ourselves and chatted away about what classes and teachers we got stuck with for the year.

At the end of the day as I was rounding a corner to the front of the building, I accidentally ran into a guy in the hallway and a tall stack of books fell out of his hands.

"Oh…." He said rather calmly.

"I'm sorry! Here, let me help you." I said bending down to help him.

"Hm? Ah, thanks… Hey, are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." he said airily. I was a little distracted by his beautiful green eyes and spiky raven hair, but managed to snap back to reality. _He probably thinks I'm weird now…_

"Huh? Oh! I moved here from New York in the summer." I replied shakily.

"Well then, welcome to Tokyo, um…" (Déjà vu)

"Komori."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kiyoshi." he said with a quiet smile.

"Nice to meet you, too. Look, I'd better get going before my ride leaves." I said.

"Right. See you around then." he said and walked off with the giant stack of books. _What does one person need with all those books? …He's so cute, though: I could barely speak!_ As I walked out of the school, I felt a whole lot better. I made a friend and met a pretty cute guy, which was more than what I could say about New York. Maybe this wouldn't be complete torture after all. When I got in the limo, Ryou and Keiichiro were both inside waiting expectantly.

"Well, was it as much torture as you said it would be?" Ryou asked smiling.

"No one strapped me to a spiked wheel." I said with a small smile.

"Then I hope you're ready to work in the café." Keiichiro said. _Oh, yeah, the café._

"Whatever..." I muttered. The café was more packed than it had been in the summer. I guessed it was because Café Mew Mew was an ideal hangout spot for teenage girls (and the few boys who were confident enough in their masculinity to enter a place so pink and sugary) after school. As I was serving tables, I spotted Takara sitting alone at a table, happily sipping on a smoothie. I ducked under the nearest table.

Keiichiro noticed my hiding place and said, "Oh, how I wonder where Komori is." He lifted up the tablecloth and peered in at me.

"Why are you hiding under the table?" he asked, puzzled.

"I'm, uh…Inspecting the table for termites." I declared innocently.

"Well, that's very nice of you, but could you please keep serving tables? We're really packed today." he said impatiently and walked off. _Maybe I was wrong. I guess my social life could get a lot worse. I'm dressed like a stupid Barbie doll in front of half the school population!_

As I started to serve tables again while trying to hide my face with my serving tray, I heard Takara call my name. She came up behind me and turned me around.

"Komori! I thought it was you! Why didn't you say you worked here?" she said gleefully.

"Oh, I didn't think it was really important." I lied.

"Are you kidding? This is one of the best hangouts around! Everybody comes here!" _Great. Now all the people who saw me at school are going to get a glimpse of me in this sickening café. Just peachy._

"Well, I'm sorry I can't chat, I've gotta get back to work."

"Yeah, I have stuff to do, too. See you at school!" she said and walked out the café's doors. That day I saw tons of people I recognized from school. Luckily, none of them recognized me. At the end of the day, after all the customers had left, Keiichiro mysteriously left again to 'run some errands', leaving me alone to clean up.

"I'm sorry to leave you alone like this, but this time it shouldn't take too long." He tossed me the key. "Just lock up after you're done." he said and scurried out the café. I swept and mopped for about an hour and then I decided to wipe the tables off. I went to the broom closet and found that we were out of anti-bacterial spray to clean the tables with. _Aw, great. Wait, maybe there's some back in the storage area._ I walked back to the storage area and tried to unearth some spray from the massive mounds of junk in the storage closet. I spotted the door that had been locked the last time I had been back there. I don't know why, but I had a sudden urge to see if it would open.

"I don't know why I'm going to bother," I muttered, turning the handle, "It's probably still--."

'CLICK!'

I stared disbelievingly at the open door.


	7. Forever Changed

**Chapter Seven: Forever Changed ****永远改变**

"_Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one. Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers." –Leon, Kingdom Hearts II_

I stealthily crept inside and shut the door behind me. The room looked like a mad scientist's laboratory: all sorts of gizmos and gadgets were stacked onto shelves, many with wires perilously poking out everywhere. _Something about this feels wrong…_ I turned and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge: It had locked itself. _Oh, shit! I'm in serious trouble…_ I desperately searched the lab for an exit of some kind. Nothing but machines were in the room. I was trapped like a rat. _Keiichiro's going to be really mad at me! Now I see why this room was locked…_ Since it would probably be a while until I found a way to get out of this god-forsaken room, I consoled myself by looking around the room at the various machines. There were all sorts of ghastly objects that were beyond any recognition. "Hey, maybe this is one of Ryou's labs." I whispered to myself.

_Not very well-hidden, if you ask me._ I wandered into the far corner of the room and saw a (rather sinister-looking) monumental machine that protruded upwards that had five corners, giving it the shape of a star. I ran my fingers over the smooth metal surface. _What is this thing? I wonder what it does…_ A broad red button that was on the end of the part that stuck upwards had the word 'Start' printed on it neatly. Going against every part of me that shrieked, 'Don't push any buttons!', I pressed the large red button. The machine started up with a loud whirring noise that made me step back in surprise. _This could be very bad._ A voice came from the machine that said, "Initiating DNA transfer in 10, 9, 8, 7…" _Wait, DNA transfer? What does that mean?_ I looked around frantically.

"How do you shut this thing off?" I muttered, inspecting the machine for an 'Off' switch. The machine selected a small cylinder of plasma from a containment chamber at its center and placed it in one of the five points of the star-shaped apparatus.

"6, 5, 4…" the voice continued. _Well, maybe nothing bad will happen._

I stepped back, still searching for the switch.

"3…" _Who puts a lab in a café, anyway?_

"2…"

I ran my hands down the side looking for something, anything that would stop the machine. Frustrated, I fell down to my knees, silently cursing. _I just hope it doesn't blow up, or something…_

"1"

A huge wave of light exploded from the tip of the machine and enveloped me. "AHH! What's happening?" I screamed. And then, I was all alone. Swimming in a frothy blackness. Alone. A light shimmered in the distance. I tried to move toward it, but discovered I couldn't. _Help me…_ The light came closer and closer until it was upon me. It dimmed to reveal a small bat creature. Its glossy coat shimmered like the night sky; it cocked its black head and regarded me curiously. _Huh? What are you going to do?_ The bat fluttered its wings to gain speed and flew up to my face. It gave me what I could have sworn was a smile, then swept into my chest, like a ghost slipping through a wall. Overwhelming pain swept over every inch of my body. Everything melted away and became a big blur of nothing. I felt like I was falling through the center of the earth as everything faded into sheer darkness.


	8. Stranger Than Ever

**Chapter Eight: Stranger Than Ever ****陌生人比任何时候都**

When I woke up, my head felt like it was going to rupture. I groggily grabbed the alarm clock off my desk.

"Huh? Oh my God, it's twelve o'clock!" I screamed. _I am going to be so majorly late for school! …And why do I care so much?_ It was weird because I had never thought that before. Truthfully, some days I would just skip school. I jumped out of bed and looked for my uniform under the mass piles of junk that littered the floor. My head was pounding and searing with pain, but I had a strong urge to go to school. I heard a faint knock at my door as Ryou and Keiichiro crept in.

"How are you feeling, Komori?" Keiichiro asked pitifully.

"Horrible! I'm majorly late for school!" I panicked.

"Whoa! Slow down there! I think you hit your head a little TOO hard. Get back in bed." Ryou instructed in a motherly tone. He led me back to my bed and forced me to lie down.

"You took quite a spill yesterday." Ryou said.

"Do you remember anything?" Keiichiro asked quietly. I would have told them the story with the bat, but that would convince them that I needed more bed rest. I also would probably get in trouble for going into that locked room...if I even did go in there, that is. But what if it was just a dream? What if I really did just hit my head really hard and the bat was just an illusion?

"Um, no, not really." I said shakily.

"It's all my fault! I shouldn't have left you alone, Komori! I'm so sorry! I came into the café to make sure you had locked up and I found you lying on the floor unconscious!" Keiichiro wailed.

"It's all right, Keiichiro. I probably would have slipped even if you had been there." I reasoned, trying to ease his guilt.

"Well, you need your rest." Ryou said as he and Keiichiro walked out.

"Just scream really loud if you need anything." Keiichiro joked, provoking a snicker from Ryou. I rubbed my head, which was still pounding and managed to lull into an uneasy sleep.

**Down in the lab…****下面在实验室 **

Ryou sat at his computer typing while Keiichiro fiddled with a small gadget. "It's really weird how she doesn't remember anything." Keiichiro said.

"Yeah, and what's even weirder is that the security cameras blanked out before then too." Ryou said, still typing.

"Do you think someone breached the security system and hit her on the head to gain access into the lab?" Keiichiro asked.

"The odds of that are almost nil. But just to be sure, I already looked over everything for fingerprints and nothing was stolen as far as I could tell." Ryou continued.

"I don't think I like the sound of any of this." Keiichiro reasoned. Ryou continued typing until a red box popped up on the screen. Ryou gasped, his eyes wide. He solemnly turned to face Keiichiro.

"Our worst fears have been confirmed." Ryou said gravely.

"Which ones?" Keiichiro grinned.

"The ones that involved the aliens returning, Keiichiro. Masha detected alien activity below the Earth's surface just now. The mischievous little imps are planning something…" Ryou said.

"The same race?" Keiichiro said, leaning towards the computer with a new found interest.

"No, the data says it's a different kind than seven years ago. They appear to be a far more advanced race." Ryou explained.

"I guess that means we're going to be busy for a while aren't we?" Keiichiro frowned.

"Yeah, real busy." Ryou sighed, rubbing his eyes.

**Back upstairs, at 5:00 PM…****回楼下以 ****5 ****点**

I woke up again, but my head still hurt as badly as before. I slowly sat up and changed into some clothes, then started to go downstairs (okay, two wrong turns this time, but I had a minor concussion, so give me some credit ). Ryou and Keiichiro were nowhere to be found. _They're probably working on some sort of cake recipe._ I decided that I was definitely going to school tomorrow, no matter what I felt like or what Ryou said. I felt Takara needed me, somehow. I also wanted to get another glimpse of Kiyoshi. I nabbed a breakfast bar from the kitchen, sat down, and began to munch on it until the doorbell rang. I was startled when I opened the door to find Takara on my doorstep with a small stack of papers in her hand.

"Oh! Hi, Komori! I thought I had the wrong address when I saw the house!" she said, laughing.

"Anyway," she continued excitedly, "I saw you were absent today so I went around and got all the assignments you missed so you wouldn't be behind tomorrow!" _She really does talk a lot._ She handed me the stack of papers with my name written on them. _Yeah, like homework is going to make me feel any better. Oh, well. Better not burst her bubble._

"Oh, wow. Thanks a lot, Takara." I smiled.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, I should be able to go back to school tomorrow, if my cousin thinks I'm well enough." I answered, rubbing my head.

"Oh, you live with your cousin?" she pried.

"Yeah, my mom sent me to live here for the school year." I yawned.

"I see… Well, I'd better get going. I hope you feel better!" she smiled and ran off down the sidewalk. It surprised me quite a lot to see that she went through all that trouble just for me. Maybe that's what real friends do. I made a mental note to get her missing assignments if she was ever sick. The next morning Ryou deemed me fit enough to go to school.

"But if you start feeling bad again, just give us a call and we'll come get you." he said. _He's acting more like a parent every day._ I quickly got ready for school. I didn't think I had ever been so happy to return to school. I arrived at school a little earlier than I did on the first day so I could get a better spot to sit at. Takara was already there, sitting on the steps thumbing through some papers in her bookbag.

"Takara!" I called. She looked up and waved back at me. I ran over to sit next to her.

"Did you just get dropped off in a _limo_?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it's the only car my cousin owns (that I know of, at least). I would have really just settled for any regular old car." I explained, really trying not to come off as snobby.

"Wow!" she said, her eyes getting bigger. I looked around.

"No sign of the Leiko Gang right now." I said cheerfully.

"They wouldn't be caught dead at school this early." she said. I scanned the front of the school to see who else would come to school this early. I noticed that the fencing club was having practice, but other than that we were pretty much alone. Takara caught my gaze.

"The fencing club meets every morning from four to six, rain or shine." she explained.

"Wow, it must be torture having to wake up so early every morning." I said in wonder. We both sat there and watched the fencing club practice. They were really quite good. One player in particular stood out; their form was great and their opponents sword couldn't even manage to make a single hit. Imagine my astonishment when he took off his helmet and I saw that it was Kiyoshi!

"Oh my god, it's Kiyoshi!" I yelled in shock.

"Who?" Takara asked, puzzled.

"A guy I met in the hallway. He didn't really strike me as the athletic type, you know?" I said, turning to her. She looked over at the fencing team.

"Hm, he's pretty good, actually." she observed. We sat there watching them fence and after they left, decided to study. Even thought there really wasn't anything to study. After the Leiko Gang showed up, we moved out of their sight, knowing they would probably come after me after what happened with Takara the other day. Takara and I breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang and ran inside as fast as we could. I expected today to be just like the first day, but I was wrong. Very wrong.

A lot of strange things happened: First, I kept falling asleep in class (more than I usually did, anyway). And then at lunch, the only thing I would eat was fruit. After munching down all the fruit I could find Takara giggled. "You're going to turn into a fruit, the way you're eating it!"

The second, and last, weird thing was that at night I couldn't get to sleep. At two in the morning I still wasn't sleepy and stayed up until I collapsed around six. _I wonder…_


	9. A Surprise Visit

**Chapter Nine: A Surprise Visit ****一次惊异访问**

The rest of the week flashed by, the weird occurrences happening even more until Saturday. _At least I have a reprieve from school for a little while._ Keiichiro said I could start working at the café again, but I wasn't allowed to mop any floors. I did the regular routine at the café: greeting, taking orders, delivering orders. I heard the bell chime and I went to greet two customers, a man and a woman. I got some menus and walked up to them.

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew. My name's Komori and I'll be your waitress--." The woman with red hair stopped me abruptly.

"I'm sorry, but we're actually here to visit some old friends, Keiichiro and Ryou. Are they here?" she asked

"Well, Keiichiro is, but I'm not completely sure of where Ryou is. Do you want to talk to Keiichiro?" I asked.

"Yeah!" the woman said energetically. Keiichiro walked in and started to ask me to get something from the freezer, but he paused when he saw the man and woman. A giant smile spread across his face.

"Ichigo! What are you guys doing here!" he asked happily. Ichigo smiled and gave Keiichiro a hug.

"I thought it would be cool to have a reunion to celebrate the old days!" she said. I was completely confused, but obviously Keiichiro knew them very well.

"Where's Ryou?" the tall black-haired man said.

"Oh, Masaya… I think Ryou's…Well, where he usually is." Keiichiro answered, glancing at me sideways.

"I'll call him." Keiichiro said. He pressed a button on his watch and talked into it.

"Hey, Ryou, you've got a really big surprise waiting at the café." Keiichiro said with a smile.

"Keiichiro, would this involve anything that will electrocute me if I touch it?" Ryou answered nervously.

"You know that was just a harmless prank, Ryou. Anyway, no, it won't electrocute you." Keiichiro said rolling his eyes. A few minutes later Ryou nervously crept into the café. As soon as he saw Ichigo and Masaya gathered before him, he broke out in a wide grin.

"Well, I'll be…" he started. By this time Keiichiro had already shooed me away to care for the customers, so I hadn't been able to catch any more snippets of conversation. They were still talking while I was still wrapping up all the cleaning. Keiichiro looked over at me in the middle of a conversation.

"Remember, Komori, I'll do the mopping, we don't want a repeat of Tuesday." he grinned impishly. I scowled and continued to sweep. Ichigo stood up. "Hey, you haven't properly introduced us to Komori yet!" she said with a scolding tone in her voice and her hands on her hips. Ryou now stood.

"Right. Well, this is Ichigo Momomiya-"

"Um, actually, it's Ichigo Aoyoma, now." she said glancing over to Masaya, her face red. Ryou raised an eyebrow curiously. If I hadn't known any better, I would have said a flicker of jealousy rippled across his face, if only briefly.

"So you finally tied the knot, then…"

"Anyways, this is Masaya Aoyoma." Ryou finished with a bland sigh. I had a hunch that Ryou didn't like Masaya very much. Masaya gave me a kind smile that spread across his entire face. Even his eyes seemed to smile.

"So, how long has it been since you guys have seen each other?" I asked, leaning on the edge of the nearest table. Keiichiro started to count on his hands.

"I think it's been a good two years, actually." Ichigo answered.

"How long have you been working here at the café?" Ichigo asked.

"Since last summer when I first got here." I said.

"Oh? So where are you originally from?" Masaya asked curiously.

"New York. My mom sent me here thinking it would be good for me." I sighed.

"Who do you live with?" Ichigo pried.

"Um, well…" I said glancing over at Ryou.

"She lives with me," Ryou answered, "Komori's my cousin." Ichigo and Masaya stared at him, mouths agape.

"You mean someone actually _allowed _you to take care of their kid?" Ichigo asked in shocked astonishment.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Ryou said turning around angrily.

"Well, before we start hating each other again, who wants some tea?" Keiichiro interrupted.

"I do!" Masaya said, changing the subject along with Keiichiro. We returned to Ryou's chateau for tea, since they didn't want to dirty any of the dishes I had just washed. The group sat in the parlor, sipping tea and talking about the old days when they still all lived in Tokyo. I sat in the kitchen, attempting to think up some lyrics to the song I had already written, but they were all so goddamned noisy, that I angrily stomped back up to my room. I had horded up in my room for the rest of the night until I got a _HUGE_ craving for an apple, and went downstairs to the kitchen. As I was walking down the steps, I heard them still talking, but in a quieter tone. I decided to linger a while to eavesdrop.

"Speaking of Kish and aliens," Ryou continued, "I have some bad news." Ichigo looked up with a look of horror on her face.

"Please don't say that stupid pervert's come back." Ichigo said.

"Heh, not quite. Masha detected alien activity underneath Tokyo. But it's different from seven years ago. We're dealing with a race far more advanced than before." Ryou said. A silence fell over the group.

"So…what can we do?" Masaya asked.

"Hm…Ryou, do you think it would be possible to make new Mews?" Ichigo asked.

"It's impossible. The machine has been turned off for so long now, and even if we did get it to work, the risks would be enormous." Ryou said.

"Well, why don't we go to the lab and see if it's still working?" Ichigo suggested.

"It's worth a try, Ryou. New Mews may be the only way to stop them." Keiichiro said. _I wonder if the machine they're talking about is the one that I messed with…What's a 'Mew'?_ With that, they all hurriedly departed to the café. My head was spinning with the derangement of the conversation I had just heard. _Mews? Aliens? What's going on?_ I scurried back up to my room and waited about an hour and a half before hearing cluttering downstairs and scampered back to my hiding place above the top of the stair's banister. They had returned from the café and Ryou appeared to be in a conniption. I crouched down and watched.

"_How did it turn on?_" Ryou asked himself incredulously as he paced back and forth.

"Maybe it was on the day that there was a breach in the security system that you told us about." Masaya pondered. Ryou's eyes widened.

"WHAT IF THEY USED THE MACHINE TO TURN THEMSELVES INTO A MEW?" Ryou screamed.

"Shh! You'll wake Komori! Now calm down, Ryou!" Ichigo whispered. He paced faster, running his hand through his shock of blonde hair.

"It all makes sense now! I looked on my desk and the Mariana Fruit Bat DNA was missing!" Ryou rationalized. _I think I'm in big trouble…_

"Ryou, calm down. We can send Masha out to find whoever turned themselves into a Mew." Keiichiro whispered. Ryou seemed to calm down.

"Right," Ryou sighed, "Here, let's find rooms for everyone. We can settle this later." After it registered in my head that they would be coming upstairs, I jumped from my hiding place and scurried back to my room as silently as I could. _I don't know what's going on. But I'm going to find out…_


	10. The First Battle

**Chapter Ten: The First Battle ****头一个巴特尔**

"_I have great faith in fools. My friends call it self-confidence." --- Edgar Allan Poe_

I was still pretty scared over everything I had heard last night. And the fright amplified when I woke up and saw a big furry white animal staring at me with horrendously bulbous eyes. "AHHHH! GET AWAY!" I screamed, throwing a pillow at it. Ryou heard me scream and rushed in, wild-eyed. "What's wrong? Are you okay, Komori?" he panicked.

"T-there's a f-fluffy w-white thing over there." I said, pointing to the corner of the room where the creature was pinned under the pillow. Ryou walked over to the pillow and regarded it.

"…Komori, this fluffy white thing is what we call a _pillow_" Ryou explained condescendedly.

"N-no! That thing under the pillow!" I whined. Ryou lifted the pillow up and burst out laughing.

"Masha! How did you get in here?" He laughed as he stroked the creature. "Don't worry, Komori. Masha's completely harmless." Ryou said.

"Uh, y-yeah. I think I'll be going downstairs now…" I mumbled shakily and walked out of the room. Later on, after I got over being scared by Masha I got dressed and decided to go exploring around the neighborhood a bit.

"Hey, Ryou! I'm going out!" I yelled.

"M'kay! Just make sure you don't get lost! I don't wanna go hunting you down the streets of Tokyo!" he yelled back. I rolled my eyes and walked out the door. _Yeah, like I could get lost._

**In the parlor…****在客厅 **

Ryou stroked Masha's ears as he reclined on the leather couch across from Masaya and Ichigo in the parlor. "So, Ryou…Anything interesting happen since we last saw each other?" Ichigo asked, attempting to stir up some friendly conversation.

"Yeah. When did you move out of your place at the café into this Taj Mahal?" Masaya asked with false curiosity.

"Approximately four months ago. There's much more room over here for all my experiments and such." Ryou responded with a slight glare in Masaya's direction. _What an ass..._

"Heh. Still looks like you just moved in. I feel sorry for Komori; having to live in a dump like this with no one but you to cure her boredom. Oh, wait. You'd just make it worse." Ichigo smirked, trying to provoke Ryou. _Don't let her get to you, Ryou. Keep your cool._ Ryou grinded his teeth and tried to keep the conversation hatred-free… at least for the next five minutes or so. _I'm starting to wish Komori didn't leave me alone here with these two. Selfish little brat, can't she see that _I'm_ suffering?_

"Oh, ha ha, Ichigo. So…what are you doing for a living nowadays?" Ryou asked, aiming the question more towards Ichigo than Masaya, ignoring her blatant insult.

"I'm starting my own fashion line, while Masaya here is an animal rights advocate. He's in Greenpeace." Ichigo responded, draping her arms across Masaya. Ryou felt a sickening sensation in his gut as he watched Ichigo smother Masaya in her arms.

"Will you excuse me? I have to go throw up." Ryou grumbled, standing up. Ichigo looked up at him with an innocent expression. Masaya eyed Ryou knowingly as he wrapped his arms tighter around Ichigo's waist.

"Aww, Ryou! Don't be a baby! Here, we'll cut it out, gosh." Ichigo said, detangling herself from Masaya. Ryou leaned down into his seat again, slightly embarrassed. _I wonder if that was too straightforward…?_

"Hey, Ryou. What's the latest alien poll?" Masaya questioned.

"Keiichiro and I have detected a new species residing somewhere underground Tokyo like I said last night. We're trying to compile data on them." Ryou stated. _Ha. Try beating that, Mr. Perfect._

"Ryou…are you sure it's safe for Komori to be going out when there's aliens around?" Masaya asked. Ryou looked up and gave Masaya a look of utmost annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure she'll be okay. It's not like they're parading the streets."

"Yeah, but maybe you should send Masha to follow her, just to be sure, you know?" Ichigo added worriedly with a slight twitch in her left eye, "She might be getting harassed by a Kish!"

"Honey, I highly doubt that there is any alien in the galaxy that's more perverted than Kish." Masaya reasoned.

"Okay, fine! Masha, go follow Komori, but don't let her know, 'kay?" Ryou instructed. Masha gave a small 'Tweet' and flew through the window.

"Happy now?" Ryou grumbled.

**Twenty feet below the Earth…****在地球下面的二十英尺**

"These humans are so unalert; they won't know what hit them." Ronin grinned evilly.

"Resu! Get ready!" Ronin instructed.

"I am prepared." Resu replied, popping his knuckles gleefully.

**On the streets… ****在街上**

The unforgiving sun beat down on me as I explored the many winding streets of Tokyo. _Maybe wearing black every day isn't such a good idea._ I noticed that Tokyo was a lot bigger than New York City. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of walking around in this horrible heat. But despite the heat, it was still a beautiful day to take a walk. _I **have** changed a lot; I never used to go for a walk just for the fun of it. I sicken myself._ An enormous eruption from the street ahead burst with the sound of a thousand firecrackers detonating at once, interrupting my thoughts. _What's going on? Is this an earthquake?_ A rumbling quake rippled through the street, forcing me onto the ground.

"OOF!" I cried, trying to propel myself up as another shock hit the ground. A horde of screaming people stampeded down the street, running as fast as they could, then falling flat on their faces as another shock hit the ground. The chaos that followed was filled with utter confusion. People were sprinting through the streets hollering, "Monster!" "Kirema Anima!" and "Giant animal!" as they ran around like headless chickens. I pushed myself up onto my elbows, attempting to see through the thick layers of dust. A chunk of metal whizzed by my head, and I realized that I had to find shelter from this 'monster' that seemed to be what was causing all the mess. I crawled over the hot concrete on my belly, dodging the debris that flew at me. Unfortunately, I didn't see the brick on a collision course with the back of my head.

**Meanwhile, back at the house…****同时，回在房子 **

Ryou's watch emitted a light green glow. "Oh!" Ryou exclaimed. "We're getting a distress signal from Masha. And from how urgent it is, I'd say it's bad!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ichigo asked.

"Komori might be in trouble!" Ryou squealed . Everyone jumped off the couch and bolted towards Masha's distress signal.

**In the streets…****在街 **

The world I had woken to was in absolute pandemonium. Buildings sat on their side, debris littered the street, people ran amok in panic, a giant cat tore through all the obstacles that stood in its way…wait a minute…a _giant cat_? I shakily sat up and rubbed my eyes in astonishment. A giant cat towered above, casting an ominous shadow onto my face. _That cat's been taking some serious steroids…What am I saying? I think my head got hit a little too hard again._ I caressed the back gingerly, feeling a large knot forming where I had been struck. The giant cat continued its path of destruction, sending a powerful ripple through the concrete, which crumbled beneath it like paper. _That thing is definitely real!_ My first impulse was to run, but I couldn't manage to bring myself to my feet. _This must be the aliens Ryou was talking about!_ The monster started to demolish everything within its reach. It started to advance to the middle of the street where I helplessly laid. I started to brainstorm as the rumblings drew closer. _There has to be a way to fight this thing! Ryou said so himself! That DNA I injected must have done something…If only I knew how to use the powers!_

"You'd better run, little girl! You don't want to be crushed by my kirema anima, do you?" a figure that crouched on the shoulder of the creature shouted wickedly. The kirema anima aimed for me, and lunged.

"AAAHHH!" I screamed. _What are you doing! Jump out of the way!_ I pressed down my fears and rolled out of the range of the kirema anima just in time. _Urgh! This is so frustrating! How do I transform!_ The kirema anima lunged again and I just barely dodged its attack. A jumble of words rushed into my head, overlapping each other into meaningless words. _God, I think that my head really was hit too hard…_ One word stood out of the rest of the senseless phrases. _Mewtemorphosis…_it echoed clearly. _Well, it's worth a shot._ I pulled myself to my feet with the aid of a nearby pole.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I shouted. A shroud of black light encased my entire body. The scene of chaos drifted away, and the only reminder was of the incessant roars of the creature. The same bat that I had seen on the day when I was in Ryou's lab materialized before me. Its soft fox-like face gazed at me with curiosity. The bat always appeared as if it were made out of what you would think stars are made of. The bat made a small nod and enveloped me into its pitch-black wings. I felt myself growing ears and bat wings. _Huh? Is this the power?_ The barrier faded and I found myself in a new outfit, back in the middle of the scene of chaos. I looked myself over. The outfit was made of a stretchy sort of black leather. A black tube top was covered by a jacket with the sleeves rolled up. The skirt was cut slightly below my fingertips, followed by a cozy pair of high-heeled boots covered in rhinestones. _Hm, pretty stylish. Outfits out of nowhere; I could get used to this._

"What are you doing, you pathetic human!" the alien shouted in surprise. I actually had no idea what I was doing, so I couldn't really answer him. A stream of words flowed through my mind, and I found myself saying them out loud.

"Stop destroying this beautiful city! For your evil actions, I will make you pay!" I yelled. _What the heck did I just say? Evil actions? Who came up with that corny line?_ _Passion Sword…_ Another voice echoed.

"Passion Sword!" I said, reaching up. To my astonishment, a sword appeared in my outstretched hand. Its handle was covered in a twisting vine with purple fruit hanging off of it. A thin steel blade that was covered with circular gems stuck out threateningly. Before I could even fathom the stupidity of what I was doing, I ran at the kirema anima and slashed at it with the Passion Sword, sending a flash of violet light through it. The monster shrieked in pain and writhed on the ground. The creature downsized until all that was left was a regular-sized, normal cat. The figure looked down on me.

"This war is far from over, you pathetic Mew." he said and faded away. _Did I…win?_ Ryou, Ichigo, and Masaya filed into the street, taking in the last of my battle. Ryou's eyes widened when he saw me standing amidst the chaos. _Oh no… What if he saw me transform!_ Frightened, I spread my wings and flew up into the smoke-filled sky.

"Wait!" Ryou called desperately. I flew for about a mile to make sure I was out of Ryou's eyesight and landed behind a fallen building.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I whispered. The black shroud surrounded me again, but the bat didn't appear this time. As I stepped out of the shroud I was back into my normal tattered clothes. I stepped out from behind it and roamed around for sight of Ryou. I turned the corner and saw he was still standing in the same spot.

"That was…a Mew…" I heard him say, dazed as he crouched onto the ground. Keiichiro touched his shoulder.

"Come on, Ryou. We have to keep looking for Komori." Keiichiro said softly. It looked as though the entire group had split up to look for me. _Look what I've caused…_ I ran to Ryou and Keiichiro with my arms outstretched.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" I said innocently. Ryou turned around and pulled me into his arms.

"God, Komori! We were so worried!" Ryou said as he looked me over for injuries, pausing at my head. I pulled away.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! I hid when I saw that giant….cat." I lied. Everyone gathered around me, giving me hugs and thanking god that I was okay.

"Let's get home; we've got a lot of work to do…And I might as well explain what's going on…" Ryou sighed.


	11. The Secret War Begins

**Chapter Eleven: The Secret War Begins ****秘密的战争开始**

"_I cannot put a pistol to my head and draw the trigger; for something stronger than myself withholds the act; and although I loathe life, I have not strength enough in my body to take hold of death and be done with it. For such as I, and for all who desire to be out of the coil without posthumous scandal, the Suicide Club has been inaugurated._" –"The Suicide Club", Robert Louis Stevenson

Ryou sat me down on the couch when we got back home and explained everything to me about the aliens and a few of the Mew project details.

"I know that this is all pretty confusing, Komori. You'll understand it in time." Ryou explained, thinking I was some sort of idiot. _I actually understand it all perfectly; I know a lot more than you think I do…_ Somehow after all the damage that was caused by the kirema anima, I still managed to convince Ryou to let me go to school. He sighed. "Oh, all right. But this time, call if anything weird shows up, 'kay?" I nodded and walked out the door. Ever since Sunday, Ryou, Keiichiro, Masaya, and Ichigo had been down in Ryou's lab working nonstop. I doubted he would really even notice if I had left the house.

When the limo dropped me off at school, there was no sign of Takara. _Hm... Maybe she's sick today, or something._ I sat on the steps and pulled out all the homework I hadn't bothered to do over the weekend. Could you really blame me? I looked over and watched the fencing club start their morning practice. _Fencing looks kinda fun._ I could always tell which one was Kiyoshi; he was the one who was kicking everyone's butt. I had to say that it was pretty entertaining watching people whap each other with swords. A few times I even caught myself laughing. After they had finished practice, they all took off their helmets and slapped each other on the back. Kiyoshi, on the other hand, just sat excluded from the rest. _They're probably just sore losers._ The team began to walk inside. Still, Kiyoshi lingered behind, giving off his usual aura of loneliness. He started to walk, then turned around and stared at me with his big green eyes. He smiled slightly and gave a wave before running after the rest of the team. I looked around.

_Did he just acknowledge my existence? Or was there someone behind me he was waving to?_ I looked behind me. _Nope, nobody…Then he must have been waving at me! OH MY GOD! HE WAVED!_ _…But I'm not sure why I care so much…_

The rest of the morning passed by in the usual meaningless manner until it was time to go to class. Lunchtime was when something worth mentioning happened. Since Takara wasn't here, I was sitting alone at what other people had started calling 'The Loser Table'. An announcement came over the intercom as I was biting into a stale cafeteria soy burger:

"Anyone who is interested in trying out for our award-winning fencing team, please meet in the gym after school tomorrow. Everyone interested in fencing is invited to attend. You'll receive an information packet and given a date to tryout on. Please note that tryouts are based completely on skill. That's tomorrow in the gym after school. "

_Hm, should I tryout? I would get to see Kiyoshi a lot more... What am I thinking? I'd probably suck. _

After school I gathered Takara's homework, so she wouldn't fall behind, which is one thing that I knew would really make her flustered. As I was turning the corner to the science hall, I crashed into Kiyoshi, who was carrying a bunch of fencing equipment (I always crash into him, what's up with that?). I bent down and helped him pick it all up.

"I just keep bumping into you, don't I?" I laughed. He smiled shyly. "Well, my view was obstructed by all this…junk." He grinned.

"Hey, are you trying out for the fencing team?" he asked suddenly. I thought for a moment.

"I really don't know if I'm good enough to even tryout. I'd probably fall flat on my face." I laughed, embarrassed that he had even asked.

"Trust me, there are guys on the team that have never even heard of fencing until now. One guy thought fencing was a race to see who could build a fence the fastest." Kiyoshi joked.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Completely. Here, I have and idea: Just show me what you do know right now." he said, motioning to all the fencing equipment.

"Well, right now I'm trying to wrangle up all my friend's homework; she was sick today. And I don't think the teachers would appreciate us having a fencing tournament in the hall." I said, squeezing a smile onto my face.

"That's fine, I can wait. Meet me over at the fencing field after you're done." He said as he hauled all the fencing equipment around the corner. _Would that count as a mini date?_ After I somehow managed to get all of Takara's homework, I went out to the fencing field to meet Kiyoshi. Well, first I called Ryou, saying I'd be 'a little late'. Yeah, more like two hours late at the rate I was going at. Kiyoshi turned and flashed a pearly smile at me as I approached.

"Okay! Let's see what you know!" he grinned.

"I honestly don't know anything, Kiyoshi." I said, embarrassed.

"You'd be surprised at what you thought you never knew." He said as he picked up two helmets and lances from the pile of equipment. I slipped the helmet over my head. _Great. Helmet hair._

"Good, you know how to put the helmet on." He observed.

"What, some people can't put a helmet on?" I asked.

"Nope. But watching them take off their helmet is even more hilarious than watching them put it on." He laughed. He slipped his helmet on and put the lance in his hand.

"Okay. Hit me." He said calmly.

"What?" I asked.

"Hit me." He repeated.

"Why?" I asked.

He sighed. "Just do it, okay?"

"M'kay." I said. I tentatively ran over to him and tried to strike him with my lance, but he blocked it. He had excellent reflexes, but there was also a sort of natural grace that he possessed.

"C'mon, you can do better than that." He taunted. _I know I can, but I don't want to hurt you…_ I decided to actually try this time. I aimed and swung again. This time my sword almost hit him, but he jumped back in time, as if he could read my mind.

"That's more like it." Kiyoshi said, sounding pleased.

"Well, I think I've had my share for today." I said, remembering that Ryou was on high-alert.

"Come on, take one more hit." He said. _I really have to get home before Ryou comes and finds me._ I ran at him as fast as I could and swung at him, mimicking the grace that I had seen him move with. Poor Kiyoshi never knew what hit him. He fell back to the ground with a "Huh!" sound. I leaned over him and took my helmet off, looking him up and down frantically.

"Oh my god! _Are you okay?_" I asked worriedly. He laughed and removed his helmet.

"Yeah! That's the first time anyone's hit me before!" He marveled as I helped him to his feet.

"Sorry, but I really have to go." I said as I started to walk away. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"Um, Komori. Just consider trying out, okay?" I looked at him.

"I will." I said. And I found that I really and truly meant it. By the time I had stopped by home (holy crap…I'm calling it home…), Ryou was in a huge hissy fit.

"_Where were you?_ What if a monster attacked again?" Ryou yelled.

"I told you I'd be late." I muttered, rounding up Takara's homework from the inside of my backpack.

"No, no, no. You said you'd be 'a little late'! Two hours is not '_a little late_'!" he bellowed.

"Okay, well, sorry. Oh, I'll be late tomorrow, too." I said, starting to walk out the door.

"_Why?_" Ryou yelled.

I sighed. "Because I want to try out for the fencing team, okay?" I admitted and walked out the door.

"Fencing team?" I heard Ryou echo as I walked out. _Yeah, you heard me. The fencing team._ When I arrived at Takara's house, she seemed genuinely surprised that I had gone through the trouble of getting her homework.

"Oh, thank you, Komori! You really didn't have to…" she said modestly.

"I'm just doing what any friend would do." I grinned. She sneezed.

"Hopefully my fever will be down tomorrow." She said blowing her nose.

"You just get back in bed and do your homework, missy." I said in a mock-mother voice.

"Okay, mommy." She smiled and shut the door. Walking back home, I was feeling pretty good about myself. It was nice to have a real friend for a change. _I'd better get back home before-_

_**CRASH! **_

A serpent kirema anima was wreaking havoc a little farther down the street, whacking down buildings as if it were a lumberjack, slicing them in half with a single swing of its tail. The usual throng of screaming people flooded in my direction.

"Oh, boy." I said looking up at the huge demon snake. People were running around searching for shelter from the snake, making it hard for me to find a place to transform. To make things even worse for me, the police and news media had shown up, trying to remedy the situation. _Just peachy._ I finally found a secluded spot behind a lopsided business building.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I said. After the transformation, I flapped my wings and flew to the building that was nearest to the kirema anima. You can imagine how much attention a flying person would gather. The news media aimed their cameras at me, astonished by my ability to fly and more so by my giant bat wings. _Don't get stage fright. Just pretend they're not there._ The police still continued to fire at the kirema anima snake with their machine guns, even though it was obviously not working. I cleared my throat.

"How dare you cause problems for our police force! For your evil actions…I will make you pay!" I said, summoning my sword.

"Passion Sword!" I yelled, sending out a tremor of purple light out of my sword at the kirema anima. But the snake deflected my blows with its reflective scales, whipping my power back at me. I heard a ripple of gasps from the media and the police as I flew upward to dodge the wave of energy. _Where's that alien guy that was with the last one?_ I couldn't see him, which I didn't know then, was a very bad sign. Without warning, the snake disintegrated into the air, gone, as if it had never been there. As I was about to fly off the building to get out of the limelight, I felt a hand grasp my neck that started to squeeze. I tried to pry off the hand, but it clawed my throat even tighter.

"You have thwarted us for the last time!" the alien hissed. By this time I couldn't breathe. Buildings started to get hazy and wobbly. I thought it was all about to end when the alien was hit by some sort of electricity that came from the sky, and let go. Four figures appeared above the alien.

"Resu! Leave this planet be!" the tallest one said as he twirled a lightning ball in his hand threateningly.

"Yeah! And leave this cute little Mew Mew alone!" the one with black hair snapped. Resu snarled. "I may have lost this battle, but make no mistake that this war has only begun!" he said, and flew off. The four other aliens landed in front of me. Three had pointy ears and wore ragged clothing, while the other was clad in black and had bat wings almost identical to mine.

"Thanks for getting him off me." I said, rubbing my throat.

"We don't like him anyway." The winged one said.

"You had better get out of here before the news media gets any more footage of you." The shortest one pointed out.

"Right, well …thank you for helping." I said hastily and nose dived off the building and flew as far away as I could.


	12. A Late Warning

**Chapter Twelve: A Late Warning ****一个新的警告**

"_No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality._" – "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies", Panic at The Disco

When I crept in the door, I saw Ryou, Keiichiro, and the Mews watching the news with their mouths agape. I heard my voice echo metallically from the tv: "_For your evil actions, I will make you pay!"_

"Don't look now, Ichigo, but I think someone stole your line." Keiichiro observed.

"What? It's a good catch phrase." Ichigo shrugged. The title at the top of the screen was: _The Mew Mews are back!_ There was also quite a bit of footage on the aliens that helped me, too. Ryou turned around when he heard me walk in.

"Komori! Are you okay?" Ryou asked looking me over.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I lied innocently.

"A monster attacked while you were out!" Keiichiro said, coming up to me.

"Oh, I didn't notice." I lied again.

"Right. Well now whenever you go_ anywhere_ outside, you have to take Masha with you." Ryou concluded. _What? I have to tote around that flying hairball? _I was about to object, when three figures materialized in the room. I recognized them as the aliens that had helped me earlier, with the exception of the winged one. Everyone that was still over watching the TV fell over in surprise. The black-haired alien eyed Ichigo hungrily.

"Ah, Ichigo! You've grown even lovelier over the years!" he licked his lips, going over to her. She grabbed the lamp that was sitting on the coffee table and held it out threateningly.

"Take one more step and I'll give you some lovely bruises, Kish." She retorted.

"And you still have your usual humor, too, I see." Kish grumbled, backing away.

"And you've also brought along little Tart, I see." Ryou said. The tallest of the three walked over to Ryou.

"We came to warn you about the kirema animas and Resu, but I guess we got here a little too late." He said with an analytical tone to his voice.

"You think?" Ichigo said sarcastically, motioning to the television. Tart ran over to the tallest alien. Kish walked over to join the other two.

"So, Ryou, when did you make that new Mew? She's pretty hot." Kish asked, watching the news footage.

"I actually didn't make her, she just…appeared." Ryou sighed, looking down at his feet.

"What do you mean?" the tallest alien questioned.

"Yeah, what Pai said!" Kish repeated.

"I think someone breached our security system and managed to get into my lab--." Ryou stopped right there and remembered me.

"Ah, Komori, why don't you go upstairs and finish your homework or something?" Ryou said. I got the hint that I wasn't wanted down there, and walked upstairs.

--But not before putting a recorder on top of the staircase, so I would know every word that was said.


	13. Fencing

**Chapter Thirteen: Fencing ****搪塞**

"_If I knew myself, I'd run away._" –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I hurriedly tossed my school uniform over my head first thing when I woke up. I wasn't able to get much sleep last night; I was too excited about the fencing tryouts after school. I also was confused over all the things I heard in the living room before I was sent away. As I walked down the stairs, I grabbed the tape recorder that I put at the top last night. _Maybe listening to this will answer a few questions. I'll listen to it later. _I bounded down the stairs, knowing I was up a little too early. I walked into the kitchen to fix myself breakfast, since I actually had time. I was surprised to see Kish sitting at the table hunkered over a cup of coffee.

"You're up pretty early." I cocked my head to the side. He looked up sleepily.

"Up? I didn't go to sleep at all." He yawned, taking a sip of the coffee. He made a weird face as he drank it and a "Blugh!" sound.

"If you don't like coffee, why are you drinking it?" I asked as I sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal. He looked at the cup.

"I'm not really sure." He chuckled. I laughed along with him.

"So, is your neck still sore from yesterday?" he said, eyeing me.

"No, not…" I started until I realized what he meant. He raised an eyebrow.

"How…how do you know?" I whispered.

"Do you honestly think that I'm _that_ stupid? I recognize people's faces, not by what they wear. And I could just guess by all your suspicious behavior." He smiled.

"Please don't tell anyone!" I begged.

"I won't – On one condition."

"What?"

"Tell me how you turned yourself into a Mew under Ryou's nose. I mean, with all those security cameras and everything. It's my understanding that he has state-of-the-art equipment."

"Well, it was actually an accident. I was trapped in his lab and I was bored so I just started pressing buttons on the machine. I tried to shut off the machine, but I couldn't figure out how." I explained.

"Ah, well, I would be careful, if I were you. I can only imagine what Ryou'd do if he found out." Kish warned, trying to sound serious, but his voice had a slight tone of amusement. At that moment, Ryou walked into the kitchen.

"If Ryou found out about what?" Ryou raised his eyebrow suspiciously. _Think fast._

"If you…uh, found out why I wanted to join the fencing team!" I lied off the top of my head.

"Okay, tell me why." he said patiently. _Damn. Okay, think faster._

"Well, um, there's this really cute guy and--." He stopped me with a wave of his hand.

"I don't wanna hear any more." He said as he turned and walked out of the kitchen. I gave Kish an evil look and gathered my books together. This superhero stuff wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. When I arrived at school, I was really relieved to see that Takara was waiting for me on our usual spot on the stairs.

"Hey, Takara! Are you feeling better?" I asked. She sniffled.

"I guess so. I just came because I didn't want to fall farther behind." she said. My eyes drifted toward the fencing team. Takara followed my gaze.

"Hm, they seem to be doing pretty good this morning, actually." she observed.

"I'm going to try out." I said suddenly.

"What? Why?" she asked, shocked.

"Oh, you know…Just for the fun of it." I said. Takara smiled.

"Would this have anything to do with Kiyoshi?" she guessed.

"Maybe…" I blushed. All she did was laugh.

"Sorry, but you have to be pretty good to get on the fencing team. Have you ever held a lance in your life?" she laughed.

"Actually, I have. And I'm going to try out." I grinned determinedly.

"Whatever floats your boat, Komori." Takara sighed. After school was over, I went into the gym for tryouts. Looking around I could see I was the only girl, which was a little intimidating. The fencing coach was in the middle of the gym, sitting with the current members of the team. Kiyoshi saw I was there and gave me a wink.

"Okay, everybody! If you're trying out for the fencing team, come over here!" the coach yelled. Everyone jumbled together in a semi-circle around the coach.

"Plant it!" the coach yelled. We all sat down immediately. The coach grabbed a pile of papers and handed them out to each of us.

"This year I'm looking for star-quality players! There's seven slots open right now, and that means only seven people are going to make the cut for the team. Tryouts will be based, as said on the announcement yesterday, solely on skill and sportsmanship. We also look into your grades to see if you're passing all of your classes. We don't make any exceptions. Today we can have about half of you tryout and have the other half tryout tomorrow." the coach said. He walked to the front of the group.

"Who can tryout today?" the coach asked. I and many others raised their hands. The coach noticed me amidst the crowd of boys; he just shook his head.

"Go to the locker rooms and suit up. When you get out, come sign your name and tryout number on the clipboard located on the desk over there." He concluded. I went into the girl's locker room and changed into a white fencing outfit. It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, actually. I felt like an astronaut, with the white suit and everything. When I walked out, a guy from the fencing team handed me a number and said, "Good Luck!"

"You'll need it…" I heard him grumble after he thought I was out of earshot. I strolled over to the clipboard and wrote:

_Hoshi, Komori. Number 10_

After I signed in, I stood at the wall and waited with the rest of the guys who were trying out. "Okay, everybody, pin your number onto your back and then put your helmet on." the coach instructed. I did as he said and watched, amused, as some of the other guys struggled to get their helmets on. I looked over at Kiyoshi, who was standing at the center of the gym with the coach, and noticed he was stifling a laugh as he watched everyone slide on their helmets.

"Okay, now I'll call all the numbers off in numerical order. When your number's called, come to the center of the gym and face your opponent, which, in this case, is one of the fencing team's captain, Kiyoshi Yamamoto." My eyes widened. How did they expect anyone to have a chance against Kiyoshi? I heard a few guys muttering about how wimpy Kiyoshi looked. Indeed, he did look small, but they didn't take into account how fast he could move. _They're in for a big surprise. _The coach called everyone up one-by-one. I psyched myself up for challenging Kiyoshi. I was pretty nervous since I'd only held a lance one time.

"Aw, just put some ice on that, Number Nine… Okay, moving on! Number Ten! You're up!" the coach yelled. I took a deep breath and stepped up to Kiyoshi. We both prepared ourselves to lunge after the coach gave us the go.

"Aaaaand…GO!" the coach yelled. Kiyoshi and I struck out at each other. Our lances clashed as we moved through the stances. He swung his sword and nearly hit me in the shoulder, but I jumped back. I lunged forward and struck his in the stomach with my lance; he fell to the ground, hitting the floor with an "Oomf!"

"Excellent job, Number Ten!" the coach said as he wrote something down on his clipboard. I ran over to the locker room to change out of the fencing outfit. When I came out again, there was only one person left to tryout. Even though you could leave after you tried out, I decided to hang around so I could talk with Kiyoshi after the tryouts. Kiyoshi, yet again, beat his opponent up pretty badly. But I guess the guy deserved it; he was one of the guys who said Kiyoshi looked wimpy. Kiyoshi removed his helmet and breathed deeply; he looked pretty exhausted.

"Okay, everybody. The people who made the cut will be posted day after tomorrow before school. Now get outta here!" the coach said, shooing us off. I went up to Kiyoshi.

"You put up a pretty good fight, Kiyoshi." I smiled; he looked at me, amused.

"Let me guess: You were Number Ten?" he laughed.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I asked.

"You're the only person who's ever been able to knock me off my feet." Kiyoshi said as he ran his fingers through his raven hair.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" I apologized. He looked at the ground.

"Oh, don't be! …Um, Komori, if you're not doing anything on Saturday, we could, um… go do something together…" he said shyly. I smiled.

"I'd like that." I said shyly. He looked at me with his wide clear green eyes.

"Saturday it is then." Kiyoshi said happily, and walked to the locker room. I was so happy that he asked me out; I practically skipped the whole way to the limo. _Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm going out on Saturday! With a hot guy! YES! YES! YES!_ When I got home I was so happy that I didn't care when Ryou got mad at me for being so late.

"Okay, Ryou. I'm sorry." I said smiling as I danced around in circles. I danced into the kitchen with Ryou staring after me.

"Weirdo." I heard him mutter. Ichigo was sitting at the table with Masaya, looking over some sort of blueprint. Ichigo grinned at the happiness radiating off me.

"Well, you're unusually chipper today. What happened?" she asked curiously. I smiled and said, "Only the best thing in the whole world!" I glided out of the kitchen with a pear in my mouth. I was so blissful that I didn't notice Keiichiro and crashed right into him.

"Woah! Watch where you're going, Komori." Keiichiro warned. At this time in my life, things were better than they had ever been. I couldn't see how it could get any better than this.


	14. Inspiration for a New Song

**Chapter Fourteen: Inspiration for a New Song ****用于一只新的歌曲的灵感**

"_I've been having these weird thoughts lately... like is any of this for real or not?_" –Kingdom Hearts I

Ryou started to enforce the 'take Masha wherever you go' rule on Tuesday. I had to admit that having Masha follow me around wasn't as bad as I thought. He seemed to know how to stay inconspicuous, except for the occasional "Tweet" that came out of my backpack. Tuesday, the day after the audition, and the day before the people who made the cut were posted, seemed to dribble by, slower than molasses. That morning I explained all the tryout details to Takara, who was still indifferent about me trying out for the fencing team.

"You know," Takara said, "If you make the cut, you'll be the first girl _ever_ to get on the fencing team."

"Really? So the team's always been made of guys…"

"_The first girl on the fencing team." _Don't get me wrong, the title sounded nice and everything, but it would give me a lot of expectations to live up to. And then there was that whole clichéd secret-identity-superhero ordeal. Well, it was secret as long as Kish kept his stupid mouth shut. How was I supposed to balance that in with friends, school, and (_sigh_) Kiyoshi?

I woke just as the Wednesday morning sun began to rise above the rooftops of Tokyo. _Good, I have time to eat a bigger breakfast._ I walked into the kitchen, surprised that everyone had gathered in there, looking at a piece of paper that sat on the table. Ryou turned when he saw me.

"Komori? Oh, I didn't hear you come in." he said nervously. I grabbed the fruit bowl off the table.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing." Keiichiro said as politely as he could, shooing me out of the kitchen. _I beg to differ, if it has anything to do with aliens._ I munched down on the bowl of fruit, nervously anticipating school. Ichigo walked out of the kitchen and noticed me eating the entire bowl of fruit. She gave me a weird face.

"You're pretty hungry, huh?" she said laughing.

"Huh?" I asked, and then looked down at the fruit bowl to see that everything was almost gone.

"Oh, um, I'm just nervous about if I made the cut for the fencing team. And I tend to eat a lot when I'm nervous." I lied. Ichigo just nodded and trotted upstairs. I checked my watch and noticed that it was time for me to go to school.

"Hey, Ryou, I'm leaving!" I yelled as I walked out the door, stuffing Masha into my backpack.

"'Kay." He murmured back. When I arrived at school, my stomach was full of butterflies (and fruit). Takara saw me step out of the limo and waved at me. When I sat down next to her she said, "Well, today's the big day, right Komori?"

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever been this nervous before." I said quietly. Takara looked around.

"It looks like the fencing team got the morning off." She observed.

"Probably because the list for new members is posted." I guessed.

"Yeah, maybe." She replied. I took in a deep breath.

"Okay, do you want to come with me to see if I made it?" I asked Takara. She pondered it for a bit, and then looked up at me with her usual smile.

"Sure, I'll be your moral support." She said. As we walked over to the gym, I was glad I wasn't alone. Well, technically I wasn't alone before, with Masha stuffed inside my backpack, but I think you get the point. Then I noticed the white list taped onto the front of the gym door. As we approached it, the butterflies in my stomach grew into giant moths.

"Here we go, Komori." Takara said with her hand on my shoulder.

I put my index finger on the list and scrolled down slowly.

"_1. Tatsu Yama, 3_

_2. Ume Chidori, 7_

_3. Kame Suzume, 5_

_4. Botan Matsu, 13_

_5. Nami Kikko, 12_

_6. Katabami Kumo, 8_

_7. Komori Hoshi, 10_

_My name!_

I couldn't believe that my name was actually on the list! When Takara read my name, she started jumping up and down excitedly. Feeling the giddiest that I had ever felt, I joined Takara in jumping up and down like and idiot. Then we started to shake our hands in the air and started making high-pitched squealing sounds. _What am I doing?_ Then I turned and noticed Kiyoshi was leaning on the wall, watching us act like idiots.

"Presuming that you're not jumping up and down like morons for sadness, I'm guessing you made the cut?" he asked.

"Yes!" I said, breathless from all the jumping I had done.

"Good! I knew that you would." He said giving me one of his giant mysterious smiles. "Are we still on for Saturday?" he asked.

"Of course!" I replied, blushing.

"Cool, see you at practice tomorrow morning, then." He smiled and walked into the gym. Takara stared after him until she was sure he was gone. Then she stared at me, her eyes wide.

"_He asked you out_?" she whispered.

"Yeah." I whispered back. After I answered she started to jump up and down again. This time I put my hand on her head to stop her.

"I think we've had enough jumping for the morning, don't you?" I asked. She just laughed as the bell rang for class to begin. The whole day I was happier than I ever remembered being. I was so happy, that when Masha let out a shrill "Tweet!" in my backpack, I didn't even try to strangle him…like I usually did. When I got home, the whole house was deserted.

"Hello! Is anyone home?" I yelled. _They're probably in Ryou's lab, or something._ That's what I thought until I heard screams from upstairs. I dropped my backpack, hearing Masha "Tweet!" in pain. I unzipped my backpack and stroked Masha.

"Sorry, Masha." I apologized. Another scream echoed from upstairs. _What's going on up there? If only I could see the hallway surveillance tapes…Wait…MASHA!_

"Masha! Access the upstairs hallway surveillance cameras!" I pleaded to Masha. Masha made a weird buzzing noise and then projected a hologram of the hallways. I looked over each camera, looking for anything suspicious. Then from upstairs I heard the screams come more frequently with crashes between them. There. On camera 29. A giant kirema anima rat was upstairs attacking Ryou, Ichigo, Masaya, and the Aliens! The aliens were trying to hold it off, but by the looks on their faces, they wouldn't last much longer. I would've transformed, but I knew Masha recorded everything that it saw. Ryou, Masaya, and Ichigo were fighting it off with little success. Ryou had some sort of taser gun that he kept zapping the rat with, which actually just made the rat even angrier. _Dang it, Masha! Go away!_ "I've seen enough, Masha." I whispered, knowing that I would have to transform.

"Masha, what I'm about to do, you can _never_ let Ryou find out, understand?" I said solemnly. Masha tilted his head to the side and then gave me a "Twerk!" sound.

"I guess that's a yes." I said. I held my hand up. "MEWTEMORPHOSIS!"

Masha's eyes widened in surprise and he gave a frightened "Tweet!" when I emerged from the shroud completely transformed. I put my finger up to my lips.

"Shh! Not a tweet to Ryou, okay?" I asked Masha. He slowly nodded his head. (Or body, I'm not sure) I bolted upstairs, following the sounds of destruction. It didn't take that long to find the Kirema Anima. Kish noticed me as I darted into the room.

"We need some assistance, Mystery Mew." He said, shooting a bolt of lightning at the kirema anima, emphasizing the word 'mystery'.

"I'd be happy to assist." I sneered, summoning my Passion Sword.

"How dare you hit these people! For your evil actions, I will make you pay!" I said, starting to lunge for the kirema anima. But I wasn't fast enough, and it swatted me in the stomach with its giant paw. I landed on the ground with an "Oof!" A wave of pain washed over my stomach. I put my hand on my stomach, praying to a God I didn't believe in for the pain to stop. When I took it away, my hand was covered in shimmering crimson. _Oh, no! I'm bleeding!_ I forced myself to get back up. I picked my sword off the floor and firmly grasped it in my hand. In my fury, I lunged at the kirema anima and stabbed it directly in the chest. It gave a roar and withered down back to its original size. Ryou grabbed my arm before I could launch myself out the door.

"Who are you?" he demanded. I leaned forward and grasped my bleeding abdomen. _I don't have much time left; I have to get out of here!_

"Ugh, I…don't think...it's really…eh, your…business." I gasped.

"Wanna bet? You used _my _machine to turn yourself into a Mew; therefore, it _is_ my business!" He snarled. At this point, I had lost a lot of blood, and the room was starting to get blurry. Ichigo ran to Ryou and pried him off me.

"Ryou! Can't you see she's hurt?" Ichigo yelled. With Ryou distracted for that small space of time, I managed to fly out the open window at the end of the hallway. Ryou chased after me, and yelled something, but I was too far away to hear. The world was so blurry it looked like a dripping water painting. It was tough for me to make my wings to move. I couldn't hold them up any longer, and found myself falling towards the pavement. Everything went dark.

When I woke up, Kish was staring straight into my face. I tried to sit up; pain swept over my stomach like poisoned blades. "Lay down," Kish said quietly, "I sent Pai and Tart to get some bandages. They're also bringing that one guy."

"…Where am I?" I gasped.

"You're in a deserted alleyway. I followed you after you flew out the window." He snickered.

"It seems you made Ryou really angry."

"Does he know?"

"I don't think he does. But now he's starting to worry where you, Komori, are. So Pai and Tart are going to get some bandages to wrap you up. Pai's going to try to heal your wound, but I'm going to bet that other bat kid'll be able to do a better job." Kish replied. I nodded as Pai and Tart returned with bandages in their hands, aided by the winged alien that had fought with them in our first battle. He knelt over me and gently placed his hand above the sever. A bright light shot out of them that sent a tingly, warm feeling through my body. He looked down with a small triumphant grin painted on his lips. His face was unusually pale, his features nothing remarkable, yet I could tell there was something special about him.

"It's healed. But just to make sure it doesn't open again, we're going to bandage you up." Pai said. They lifted me slowly and wrapped bandages over the wound that had now turned into a bloody scar.

"I feel like a mummy." I chuckled quietly.

"You might want to transform back to normal before you go home." Kish pointed out.

"'Kay... Mewtemorphosis!" I nodded, transforming back to my regular self.

The winged alien's eyes widened in shock; he wobbled slightly as if he were about to faint. He probably never saw a Mew before.

"Hey, kid. Can you get Komori home? We've got some stuff to do." Kish said.

"It would help me if I knew where she lived." The 'kid' replied coolly as he tried to regain his composure.

"You can't miss it; it's the biggest house in the entire neighborhood." Tart answered.

"Here, we'd better hurry and get you home." He said, picking me up.

"Hey, I can walk, you know!" I yelled.

"Yeah, I know. But if we want to get you there fast, we're gonna have to fly, and even though you were healed, it takes the body time to regain the blood it lost." He replied, shooting into the sky with me cradled in his arms. In less than two minutes he gently placed me at the front door.

"Good luck!" he winked.

"Wait!" I called after him. He turned around in midair.

"Yes?"

"W-who are you?" I asked. He flashed a small, mysterious smile.

"I am the dark aid to the light." He said, dissolving into the air, disappearing. _Well… that was informative._ I gazed at the air where he had stood, shook my head, then slowly opened the door and walked in. Ryou was standing in the middle of the living room with his hands smothering his face.

"Ryou! Are you okay? I came in a while ago and I heard screaming, so I went to go find help!" I lied.

"Yeah, we're all okay. It was just a…never mind." He sighed. Ichigo and Masaya walked up to Ryou and Ichigo patted Ryou on the shoulder. Masha came up to me and snuggled into my neck. I laughed and scratched the top of his head.

"Thanks, Masha." I laughed. Ryou came over to me and started to pet Masha too.

"See? You warmed up to him pretty well." He said, the youthful twinkle returning to his eyes. "Yeah, Yeah." I shrugged running upstairs, grateful I had gotten away. I went up into my room, took out a pencil and pen, and began to write some ideas for my next song collaboration.


	15. My First Date and Then Some

**Chapter Fifteen: My First Date and Then Some ****我的第一日期，然后一些**

"_Those in the grip of a strong drug---heroin, devil grass, true love---often find themselves trying to maintain a precarious balance between secrecy and ecstasy as they walk the tightrope of their lives._"  
_Wizard and Glass , The Dark Tower Series, Number IV_

It was Friday evening; Ichigo and Masaya had left the day after the kirema anima incident.

"Ryou, we're all really sorry, but… we have to leave now. Something's come up at home." Ichigo said, looking down. He touched her shoulder, a hint of disappointment glistening in his eyes.

"I understand. But just give me a call if any of you see anything weird."

Ryou looked rather lonely as he bade Ichigo farewell, although I'm sure he was glad to have Masaya out of the house. _I wonder if he likes her…? _ Ichigo gave Ryou a warm hug, and walked out the door without another word. Masaya gave Ryou a look of utmost distaste before following her; Ryou returned the look after Masaya turned away. Other than that, the rest of the week had passed without any other incidents. My first fencing team meeting wasn't all that bad either. Turns out, all we had to do was have a go at each other for two hours, which was pretty fun if you have a knack for senseless violence.

I had finally written a song about my new powers too. It was pretty short, but still good. I was excited about my first date with Kiyoshi on Saturday and was also debating with myself about what I should wear. I got my guitar out of its sanctuary in the closet and decided to try out my new song. I sat on my bed and began to strum on the strings.

"_The feelings are hurting,_

_My heart's close to bursting,_

_And my soul's burning,_

_To say what I should._

_The secrets I hide,_

_Lay deep in my mind,_

_Longing for someone to tell._

_But no one's around _

_Who wants to hear_

_A Liar's Tale._

_You smile at me, _

_Having no clue,_

_What it is,_

_That I really do."_

"That was pretty." A voice coming from the window chimed. I looked over in surprise to see 'the dark aid to the light' sitting on my window sill.

"What are you doing! Spying on me!" I yelled in surprise, ready to throw the guitar at him if I had to.

"No, just listening to your song." He waved, and jumped off the sill. _That stupid jerk…_

**Meanwhile, Twenty Feet Below Earth ****同时，在地球下面的二十英尺**

Resu approached Ronin and bowed.

"Sire, the Mew girl has gotten in the way once again. Although, after her last battle with the rat kirema anima we planted in that scientist's home, she was injured very badly." Resu informed. Ronin's eyes narrowed. This Mew girl was becoming a pest.

"Resu, the next time you see her, I want you to eliminate her. Do you think you can handle that simple task?" Ronin asked, eyeing Resu.

"Yes, sire. Shall I explain our motives before she's killed? Just so the humans have a small chance, you see. It would make things more…interesting for us." Resu asked.

"You are full of the strangest ideas. Of course we will not reveal our plans!" He bellowed angrily.

"Thank you, Sire." Ronin bowed and backed out of the room slowly. _Imbecile…_

**Back at the house, Saturday ****回星期六，在房子**

I looked myself over in the mirror. _Hm, black's starting to look a little old on me…_ I was wearing a gray miniskirt, black boots, and my favorite ruffled black shirt. After hearing the weather report, I decided black wasn't smart idea. As I was trying to figure out what color I could wear, I noticed a mark on my leg just below my skirt line. I scratched at it, thinking it was dirt. When it didn't come off, I examined it more closely to realize that it was a tattoo! _Woah! I don't remember getting that…_ I analyzed it. The tattoo appeared to be a crudely drawn pair of bat wings. _Maybe it's some sort of mark that comes with being a Mew?_ At any rate, I knew I couldn't let Ryou see it, that was a given. I raided my closet and finally found a pair of light gray capris. _God, I'm going to be sweating like a pig in this!_ I shrugged and walked downstairs, the mark still burned in my mind. Masha came up to me and snuggled my neck. He had started being very protective after I told him my secret.

"Hey, Ryou! I'm leaving!" I yelled, not quite sure where Ryou was.

"Hey, I'm behind you, moron." He plugged his ears.

"Oops, sorry." I said and started to walk out the door. Ryou stopped me.

"Komori, if this guy…_does_ anything to you, just give me a call, 'kay?" Ryou said sternly with a worried tone in his voice. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Ryou, I swear, you sound just like a worried parent." I said as I walked out with Masha still curled up under my neck. I met up with Kiyoshi at Café Mew Mew; I picked it because it was a pretty popular place, so he might not get lost as easily. It also was because it would be hard _not_ to find a gigantic cupcake in the middle of the neighborhood. I was relieved when I got there and saw him waiting for me. _Good, he found the place okay…_ He was leaning against the café, letting his raven-colored hair fall in front of his eyes. _Ugh, god, he's so hot!_ Kiyoshi shook his hair off his face and then noticed me.

"Hey, Komori!" he said as he gave me a huge smile. I could've melted right then.

"Hey, Kiyoshi!" I replied, trying to get myself together.

"Alrighty, then." he said, locking elbows with me.

"Um, you still haven't told me where we're going yet." I pointed out. Kiyoshi held a finger to his lips.

"It's a secret." He whispered.

"Um…okay." I mumbled.

"Come on! Follow me!" he said, locking elbows with me once more. Like I really could _follow_ him when he grabbed my arm like that. I think we ran for about two blocks until we came to a train station.

"Kiyoshi, how far are we going, exactly?" I asked nervously. He flashed me a smile and said, "It's not like we're going across Japan, or anything." He led me onto one of the trains that was labeled 'Myogadani Station' _Where's that? Where are we going, anyway?_ We sat down as the train started to move. Most of the ride we sat in silence. I wanted him to talk to me, but what would we talk about? There wasn't anything new to say. Somehow, the silence made me feel uneasy. I glanced over at Kiyoshi, who was staring out the window with his beautiful green eyes. A lock of his hair fell over his face; he let it stay there for a moment and then blew it off. He must have been feeling the same uneasiness with the silence; he glanced at me, we both blushed, seeing the other looking, and then turned away, embarrassed. I saw a minute smile come onto his face as I dared to glance again. The train came to a screeching halt, opening it doors at Myogadani Train Station. Kiyoshi grinned and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the train like I was a little two-year-old.

"_Now_ will you tell me where we're going?" I asked impatiently.

"Don't worry," Kiyoshi said winking, "It's only about a five to ten-minute walk to where we're going." I sighed and allowed Kiyoshi to drag me down the road to god knows where. The tops of several trees appeared above a chain link fence to our left.

"Here, this way!" Kiyoshi said, running even faster. _At this rate, my arm's going to be yanked off! _We approached a gate where a man was asking to see tickets. _Are we going to an amusement park?_ Kiyoshi pulled two tickets out from his pocket and flashed them at the man, who nodded and let us enter. Kiyoshi grabbed my hand and led me through the gates.

"Welcome to Koishikawa Botanical Garden! Located at the prestigious Tokyo University!" he said in a mock sports-announcer voice. _Botanical…wha?_

"Oh, wow, this is… cool!" I lied. We stood atop a hill, overlooking a large meadow dotted with various trees and shrubs.

"I thought you'd like it," Kiyoshi grinned crookedly, "C'mon. Let's go check out the Tsukiyama Gardens." _He lost me there…_ He grabbed my hand again and ran toward a field that was speckled with wildflowers and tall trees. An occasional bridge would run across a random man-made stream. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

"Wow…" I uttered in amazement.

"Here, there are some paths we can follow." Kiyoshi said, starting (yet again) to run. At the corner of the giant 'garden' there was a large, shady canopy of trees, but other than that, I didn't see the 'path' he was yanking me towards. Kiyoshi stopped running as we neared the canopy of trees. A bush with wide violet flowers hung over the path entrance which made the path become almost invisible to anyone who didn't know that it was there. Kiyoshi pulled up the bush and let me walk through to the shady moss-covered path. As he let the bush down, he plucked a flower off of it and put it behind my ear.

"Rhododendron flowers," He explained, "are very fragrant." _Rhododendron…I think I've heard that somewhere._ I fingered the flower and said, "Woah, it does smell good."

"Here, I'll show you all the other kinds of plants that are here." Kiyoshi said, grabbing my hand. I half expected him to start running down the path again, but surprisingly, he nonchalantly began to walk. Every time he saw an interesting-looking plant, he would start telling me its scientific name, what other plants it was related to, all that 'interesting' stuff. As we were walking along, a specific flower caught my eye. It was a deep, almost red violet with streaks of white along the petals. I noticed that it also grew along a vine, which held dark purple fruit among itself. I tugged on Kiyoshi's sleeve and motioned over to the flowering vine.

"What's that flower?" I asked. Kiyoshi looked over at it and smiled.

"_Pasiflora Incarnata._ Passion Flower. I didn't think this park had any." He breathed, running his fingers over the waxy vine. _Passion Flower…_ Kiyoshi plucked one of the purple fruits off the vine.

"Passion Fruit is known for its sedative purposes, which aid insomnia and anxiety problems." He continued, and held the fruit out to me. "Wanna bite?" he offered. It was unbearably tempting as my intense fruit craving flared.

"That depends. Are it's 'sedative purposes' going to knock me out?" I eyed the fruit suspiciously.

"I don't know, that's why I'm making you eat it first." Kiyoshi chortled.

"Eh heh. No thanks." I laughed.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged, tossing the fruit onto the spongy ground and continuing down the twisting path with. We continued to walk down the path, talking about plants, school, and fencing. On one side of the path sat an old stone bench overgrown with vines and flowers.

"Do you want to sit down for a while?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Yeah, I'm beat." I replied, sitting down on the overgrown bench. Kiyoshi sat next to me with his arm on the back of the bench.

"I never thought plants could be so interesting." I sighed, breathing in the sweet smell of the earth and the tangy aroma of the plants.

"That's what most people say." Kiyoshi said, looking up towards the canopy of trees which made the path so dark it seemed like twilight.

"It's weird; I didn't think they made places like this." I exhaled quietly.

"Of course they do." Kiyoshi smiled, leaning closer.

"Thanks for bringing me here. It's beautiful."

"I thought that since you were from New York and everything, you'd never seen anything quite like this." He replied, still leaning closer.

"And you were right. All I'd ever seen was trees and stuff in parks, and that was it." I nodded slowly. Kiyoshi held my chin up and looked into my eyes. _Gosh, his eyes are almost pure green…_ He leaned closer and I felt his hot breath on my face. Right as we were about to touch, Kiyoshi hesitated and pulled away. He stood and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Maybe we should… go," he stuttered, "Don't want to worry your folks, you know?" he said, helping me up. I looked at my watch.

"Wow! It's already four o'clock!" I exclaimed.

"Time flies when you're classifying plants." Kiyoshi joked.

"Yeah." _And (almost) kissing…_

Kiyoshi was nice enough to escort me back home; I guess that's the least he could do after nearly pulling my arm off running the whole way like he did. By the time we had run up to the front of the house it was already five thirty.

"Well, see you Monday, then." He said and awkwardly strolled away down the sidewalk. _Sometimes he seems to be really shy. _ I felt something fuzzy bump into my neck and plop down into my outstretched hand.

"OW! Huh? Oh, sorry for running so fast, Masha." I apologized, looking down on Masha. When I opened the door, Ryou and Keiichiro fell in on me.

"WAAHHH!" I screamed, jumping back. Ryou and Keiichiro, who hadn't been able to catch their fall, slowly rose off the front steps and tried to look at me innocently.

"H-hey, Komori! Uh, what's up?" Ryou asked as he brushed himself off.

"Were you guys _spying _on me!" I screamed.

"Um…no, not …really." Keiichiro stammered nervously.

"Yeah, whatever." I growled and angrily stomped upstairs. _The nerve of those two!_ I flopped down on my bed, completely exhausted from sprinting all across Tokyo.

"How did it go with what's-his-face?" Kish's voice questioned from the open balcony. I looked up to see him with his other freaky alien cohorts, even 'the dark aid to the light', leaning against the stone banister. A goofy lovesick grin spread across my face.

"It was bliss!" I squealed, hugging my frilly pink pillow to my face.

The ((I'm going to call him this from now on, so ha)) Dark Aid had a small smile tugging at his lips as he took a seat by Pai and Tart. Kish lightly hopped off the sill and flew over to my bed. Tart and Pai also hopped in, but sat on the floor by the window. Kish poked my stomach, causing me to make a "Huuh!" sound.

"You look like a lovesick frog when you make that face." He smiled.

"What'd you poke me for, you jerk?" I yelled. Kish gave me a small mischievous smile.

"I just wanted to mess with you. You humans are so touchy." He replied. I reached out and yanked down hard on one of Kish's elfish-like ears. Kish screeched and swatted my hand away.

"You evil little Mew!" Kish wailed at the top of his lungs while he rubbed his sore ear.

"Shh! Kish! Keep it down! You know that Ryou's on high alert right now!" I sternly whispered. Kish gave me his most hateful look.

"I hope he does find out! You deserve it, after pulling on my ear like that!" Kish snapped back. I heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. I'm sorry, Kish…What did you guys come up here for, anyway?" I fumed, on the verge of throwing them out the window. Pai helped himself up and leaned on the corner of my bed.

"Long story put short, we found some information on the enemy that could be very useful to you." Pai explained.

"…And why are you telling me instead of Ryou or Keiichiro?" I asked looking up at Pai. Pai raised his eyebrow and said, "Because you're the only thing that has even a slim chance of defeating Ronin. Ryou and Keiichiro have no idea of what they're up against."

"Uhh…Who?"

"Ronin, that's the name of their 'leader'. That's all we could gather on him at the moment, unfortunately. As far as we know, Resu is the only follower that openly attacks people, usually in groups. I have taken the liberty of creating a device that will (hopefully) tell you where and when Resu will attack." Pai informed, pulling out a small pink wristwatch device from a satchel tied at his waist. He fastened the small gadget onto my wrist and Kish leaned over and examined it.

"So that's what you've been tinkering on…" Kish said, inspecting the watch.

"Yes. I also designed it like a human time-telling device, so it wouldn't attract any unnecessary attention. It will flash green whenever an attack has been detected. Then a map will appear on the screen, giving you exact coordinates. It also holds an excessive amount of information on kirema animas and all the information we could gather. Although, there are still many blanks to be filled in, so you'll need to collect information from all of your encounters." Pai continued.

"Wow, this is cool!" I exclaimed looking over the pink bat-shaped wristwatch. Tart hopped up and examined my watch.

"It's pretty weird-looking, if you ask me." He shook his head as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Well," I bantered, "No one asked you, now did they?" Tart turned away from me and silently pouted.

"This should make your life a lot easier." Pai finished.

"Yeah! More time to spend with what's-his-face!" Kish laughed.

"Shut up." I blushed; Dark Aid snickered. He looked out the window at the sun sinking below the horizon.

"It's getting late, we should be going." He said.

"Right. Well, thanks a lot for the watch, Pai!" I yelled after them as all four of the aliens faded away. _I guess sometimes those aliens can be pretty helpful. This watch could make being a Mew a lot easier._ I threw my face into the pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of what my future would hold.


	16. Things Heat Up

**Chapter Sixteen: Things Heat Up ****事情加热**

"For slander lives upon succession,  
For ever hous'd where it gets possession." –William Shakespeare, _The Comedy of Errors_

It was a rainy Friday before school. School had been…something short of torture, mixed in with fencing, that is. The annual fencing tournament was coming up and the coach was getting us prepared for it by working us to the bone. I laid my head down on the kitchen table. _T.G.I.F. couldn't have come any sooner…_ Keiichiro walked in and touched me on the shoulder.

"Have you not been having a very good week?" he asked sympathetically.

"You have no idea." I sighed, with my face still plastered to the table. _Whenever there's not a kirema anima to ruin the day, there's always something else that makes it worse._ Keiichiro smiled and lifted my head off the table.

"I don't think the table appreciates you being stuck to it." Keiichiro snickered. I stared at him grouchily with my hair messed up.

"Right. Tell Ryou I'm going to school." I grumbled and walked over to the door.

"Oh, Komori! I forgot to tell you! They cancelled school today because of the storm." Keiichiro yelled behind me. I looked back at him and glared.

"So I got up early for…_nothing_?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, pretty much." Keiichiro said.

"That was really weird." I said when I had finally made it back up to my room. When I flopped down on my bed, I heard a "Huuuh!" sound beneath me. I lifted up one of my sheets to see that Kish was lying in my bed!

"Woah! Kish! What the _hell_ are doing in here?" I yelled.

"Well, I was waiting for you…and I kinda' got a little sleepy…" Kish yawned. I yanked the covers off him.

"Hurry up and tell me whatever it is that you need to, because I'm pretty sleepy, too." I said grumpily.

"Well, for starters: Don't look under your bed or in the closet."

"……Why?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

"Because that's where Pai and Tart are sleeping." He yawned.

"Okay, is there anything _important_ that you need to say?" I asked impatiently.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Pai just wanted to see how the watch was working out." Kish said, pulling the covers back over himself.

"Yeah, it's working just fine, I guess. There haven't been any alerts so far."

"Mm-hmm." Kish replied, drifting off to sleep.

"Hey! Get out of my bed!" I yelled. It was too late; Kish was already asleep. _I hate aliens._ I sighed and decided to take my guitar out on the balcony to play. I opened my closet and screamed, forgetting that Pai was in there. _God, stupid aliens!_ I grabbed my guitar from the closet and slowly shut the door. I unlocked the door to the balcony and stepped outside into the raging storm. Lucky for me, the balcony had an alcove that kept me safe from the torrents of rain. A few spots of rain flew onto my face, aided by the wild wind. Dark Aid leaned up on the banister that lined the end of the balcony. He stared at me with his eerie gaze. "Um…Why're you out here… in the rain?" I asked.

"It feels good. It's an interesting thought of how it continuously replenishes the thirsty ground." He rambled.

"So, where are you from anyways? Certainly you're not from Earth?" I questioned, laying my guitar down carefully and walking to him through the drenching rain. He pondered the question for a while.

"I have no home. I'm a wanderer, living for the sole purpose to aid in the struggle against the dark." He replied quietly, letting the rain dribble down his face as he shut his eyes.

"You're making me depressed." He came back to reality and his face beheld an expression of sincerity.

"I'm sorry. For everything…" he whispered, and looked down.

"'Everything'?" I asked, taking a seat next to him. _He's so weird…_

"It's my fault that Ronin came here. I chased him here. I don't know what he's up to, either." He answered.

"Why not just, you know…kill him or something?"

He let out a hoarse laugh. "It's not that simple, I'm afraid. I wish it were: I've 'killed' him several times, but he manages to regenerate." As I was about to ask more questions, my wristwatch started to flash green.

"Huh? An attack? _Right now?_" I muttered to myself. I ran back into my room and stored my guitar back in the closet with Dark Aid following me. I cuffed my hands to my mouth.

"ATTENTION ALL ALIENS! WE HAVE A SITUATION!" I said as loud as I could without that hallway surveillance tapes picking my voice up. Kish jumped up with a startled noise and still had a blanket over his head. I heard Tart hit his head on the top of the bed with an "Umph!" Pai just opened the closet door and stared at me with zombie-like bags under his eyes.

"Okay, guys! There's an attack! C'mon!" I yelled at them.

"Where?" Pai grumbled. I stared down at the coordinates my watch gave.

"It looks like…some daycare over by Hung Bakery." I said to Pai. Tart crawled out from under the bed and yanked the cover off Kish. Kish hopped off the bed and came up to me, along with Pai and Tart.

"Okay, let's kick it!" Kish yelled.

"Wait. Masha!" I called. Masha flew up to me and gave a feeble 'Tweet'.

"Masha, I need you to make sure Ryou doesn't find out that I'm gone. Do whatever you have to do, okay?" I instructed. Masha nodded and tweeted.

"Let's go." I said, opening the balcony doors and sloshed out of the balcony with the aliens.

"Grab onto me. We'll go faster if we fly." Dark Aid motioned to his wings. I nodded and latched myself onto his waist. The five of us took off in the pouring rain, preparing ourselves for battle.

"The rain's blocking my vision! We'll be better off walking!" Kish yelled back to us. Dark Aid nodded and landed on the soaking wet pavement with me. I let go of him and began to run towards the signal through the constant torrent of rain. The rain had completely drenched us to the bone by now. _I guess I could tell Ryou that I was in the shower. More like a dive off Niagra Falls._ The watch glowed red as we approached the daycare. When we stood in front of the daycare, everything seemed to be normal.

"Pai, are you sure this watch is right?" I yelled to him through the pouring rain.

"Positive. The watch tells you where the attack is going to happen about ten minutes before it actually does." He yelled back.

"Then I guess we're just a little early." Tart said.

"I think I'll go ahead and transform. MEWTEMORPHOSIS!" I yelled. I was afraid that someone was watching, but the odds of anyone sane being out in weather like this was pretty slim. Almost as soon as I had transformed, a scream and an explosion erupted from inside the daycare.

"It's Showtime, boys!" I yelled, running into the daycare with Kish, Pai, Dark Aid, and Tart at my side. The inside of the lobby was completely deserted; the screams were coming from the room that connected to it. The five of us rushed into the room and found a kirema anima bird attacking the children. Resu was in the corner of the room, laughing at the pain the bird was inflicting. I jumped in front of the group of kids and held my arms out to defend them from the bird's blows

"Don't pick on these innocent children! For your evil actions, I will make you pay!" I yelled at Resu and the bird.

"I'd like to see you try, little Mew!" Resu laughed. Kish, Pai, and Tart started to fire up lightning balls in their hands. Dark Aid pushed off of the ground and into the air to face Resu.

"Ooo! You've got your little alien friends with you. Oh, please! Someone save me from their puny little lightning!" Resu mocked. Kish threw a ball of lightning at Resu; Resu stuck his hand out and easily blocked it.

"You're so pathetic." He sneered.

"Mew Komori! Go for the kirema anima! We'll take care of Ronin." Tart yelled to me. I nodded and summoned my sword. I tried to slash out at the bird, but it flew up to the ceiling. _Duh, Komori! You have wings!_ I flapped my wings and flew up to the kirema anima bird, managing to slash it in the shoulder, not hurting it, but making it angrier. The kirema anima roared and swatted me with its enormous beak. I wasn't able to stop myself and crashed into the wall headfirst.

_Nn…My head…_

The kirema anima came at me, roaring and flapping its huge wings. I shook off the pain that was encasing my head and prepared my sword. The kirema anima dive-bombed down at me, and would've killed me if I hadn't rolled to the side in time. "Prepare to die!" I yelled, running towards the kirema anima and stabbing it in the chest. The bird screeched and thrashed around wildly as it burst into rays of purple light and shrunk back to its original size. I looked over at Resu, who was staring in disbelief.

"Hmph! Next time you won't be so lucky, bat girl!" Resu sneered and disappeared. Kish, Pai, Dark Aid, and Tart were on their knees, gasping for air.

"He's pretty…tough." Kish huffed.

"Really? Maybe that's why I've been hunting him down half my life!" Dark Aid yelled in frustration.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I said, changing back to normal.

"Do you still think you have enough energy to transport us back to my room? It'd be faster than walking." I asked. They all slowly stood up.

"We'll try our…best." Tart whispered.

"One, Two…Three." Kish counted. On three the daycare faded and we found ourselves back in my room, completely wasted from battle.

"Woo, now I _really_ need a nap." Kish said as he flopped down on my bed.

"That's not fair! It's my bed!" I argued, trying to push Kish off the bed. He laughed and pointed at my face.

"If I were you, I would go take a shower! You're covered in blood and dirt!" Kish laughed. I looked down at myself; my clothes were shredded beyond recognition and almost every inch of me was covered in blood and filth.

"Ugh, you're right." I said, defeated.

"You have no idea how stupid you look." Tart sniggered.

"Oh, ha ha." I said sarcastically, dragging myself to the bathroom.

**Down in the lab ****下面在实验室**

A few muffled shouts echoed from upstairs. Ryou looked up from the blueprints he was working on. "What is she doing up there?" Ryou muttered to himself.

"...NOT FAIR!" echoed down.

"That's it. I'm going up there." Ryou huffed.

**Back upstairs ****回楼下**

The hot water from the shower felt great on my skin. I looked down and saw all the blood and dirt from the battle wash off and go down the drain. _That's one less thing to have to explain._ I turned the shower off and stepped out, wrapping myself in a big fluffy towel.

"Komori! Komori! Where are you?" Ryou's voice came from my room. _Phew. Right on cue…_ "I'm in here!" I yelled back.

"Well, hurry up!" he snapped. I threw on a robe and strolled out of the bathroom coolly, looking up at Ryou angelically.

"What is it?"

"I heard yelling up here. I thought that you might be hurt…" he said quietly, his eyes darting about the room.

"No, just arguing with my new roomies." I smiled.

"Roomies?" Ryou asked suspiciously.

"Go look on my bed, under my bed, and in the closet." I answered. Ryou nervously tiptoed over to my bed and looked under it. I heard a "ROWR!" from Tart and a frightened yelp from Ryou, who immediately jumped out from under the bed.

"_Why…are they in here?_" Ryou screamed with his hand over his heart

"I dunno. They just 'moved in' today." I crossed my arms. Tart grunted and crawled out from under the bed.

"Hee! That was fun!" he said with an evil smile on his face.

"Why are you guys--?" Ryou started. Kish popped his head over the edge of the bed and looked down on Ryou.

"Hiya, sunshine." Kish said sleepily.

"...Okay, where's Pai?" Ryou snapped.

"He's in the closet." I pointed, enjoying Ryou's anger.

"I heard my name." Pai said as he materialized next to Ryou. Dark Aid walked from his position by the balcony door to stand next to Pai. Ryou stood up and looked down on the four of them angrily.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled.

"Where else do you want us to sleep?" Tart asked.

"Oh, I don't know…How about YOUR OWN PLANET!" Ryou yelled.

"Sorry, can't do that. We're helping you catch that Mew, remember?" Pai pointed out. **_Catch?_**

"And you're not doing a very good job! You're helping her! You're supposed to catch her the next time you see her, you understand?" Ryou yelled even louder, spit flying out of his mouth.

"I have an idea: Why don't you make Komori help you catch the Mew, too?" Kish suggested. _I'm going to cut off those giant ears of his…_

"Hm. Good idea." Ryou thought.

"B-but Ryou! I'm way too busy to catch--!" I protested.

"Too bad. Aliens, you're going to have to stay in the living room." Ryou said.

"And what if we want to visit our good friend Komori?" Kish asked, putting his arm around my shoulder. Ryou pushed Kish's arm off.

"You can talk to her _downstairs_. Where there's supervision. C'mon, guys." Ryou said, walking out with the three aliens. Dark Aid gave me a brief glance and soared out of the window into the storm. _I wonder where he lives._ When the door shut, I dove onto my bed and gave a frustrated scream into one of the frilly pillows. _Now, because of Kish, I have to _hunt_ myself! I am so going to murder him! _ It was going to be a long day. I had secluded myself in my room the whole morning writing songs, hoping to stay away from Ryou. By noon I was ravenously hungry, and had to force myself to go downstairs to fix something to eat. Kish, Pai, and Tart were in the kitchen examining the blender.

"What do you think it does?" Tart asked, poking the blender.

"It looks like some sort of torture device." Pai replied, looking it over.

"Um, it's a blender, dudes," I answered, "It blends fruit and stuff into liquid."

"OOOHHHHH." All three of them replied instantaneously, still eyeing the blender. I stomped over to them and snatched the blender out of their hands.

"But I _should _be blending your giant elephant ears, Kish! Look at the mess you've gotten me into!" I screamed.

"Aw, it was just for the sake of entertainment. It makes everything much funner for me." Kish laughed.

"Yeah! Well it makes everything _harder_ for me!" I yelled.

"I think it's ironic, really. You're going to waste your time hunting _yourself_!" Kish laughed wickedly.

"I'm going to get you back, big time, Kish!" I whispered threateningly.

"I'd like to see you try." He retorted.

"Oh, I will. You just wait!" I whispered back. I sat the blender back at its place on the kitchen counter next to the coffee maker.

"Shouldn't you guys be heading back home now, or something?" I asked, putting a frozen pizza into the oven.

"No. We're helping Ryou." Pai answered, still enchanted by the blender. _Peachy…_Keiichiro walked in the kitchen and looked at the aliens strangely.

"Komori, why are there aliens in the kitchen?" he asked.

"Go talk to Ryou." I grumbled.

"Ooo! What does this button do?" Kish asked, about to press down a button on the microwave. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it as hard as I could.

"Don't even think about it, alien boy." I said threateningly.

"You can't hurt me, you stupid Me--." Kish started, then remembered Keiichiro was listening.

"You stupid…_ma_licious human!" he finished. Keiichiro stared at Kish and I for a while, then shook his head and casually walked out of the kitchen. We all breathed a sigh of relief when Keiichiro walked out.

"That was close." Tart said.

"What are you guys worried about? You're not the Mew!" I whispered angrily.

"Well, honestly, if you are exposed, then so are we. We'll get into a lot of trouble for keeping information away from Ryou. And he'll probably banish us from the house (and Earth) if he finds out that we're helping you, the ever-elusive Mew that he's been trying to catch for about a month." Pai explained.

"Oh." I said quietly.

"You'd better get some rest, Komori." Pai finished.


	17. Author's Note!

**Author's Note**

Hey, guys! So sorry that the story hasn't been updated for so long! I have to make A LOT of plot changes; the other plot wasn't working for me. So…it won't be ready for a while. Ah, sweet procrastination. A few points:

Aaaahhh! I SPELLED MASAYA'S LAST NAME WRONG! NYUUUU! **Strong** apologies on that one. It bugs me to no end when names are misspelled.

Komori just calls Masaya and Ichigo by their first names because……well, I really don't know why. ; Just roll with me on this, guys.

And I'm going to add a bit more background on Masaya and Ichigo. As for a Lettuce x Ryou pairing……not sure about that.

Well…to me, the aliens have always had 'ragged clothing'…but, whatever. 

Actually, all my typing **IS **in paragraph form, but the transaction to my fanfiction account splits them up. I hate that…

Just keep reading and a few questions will be answered!

Anyways, thanks for all the constructive comments and suggestions and I'll update A.S.A.P!

Love ya' Nyan!

AutumnxMidnight 


	18. A Hard Life

**Chapter Eighteen: A Hard Life ****一种困难的生活**

"_Ah me, how sweet is love itself possessed /When but love's shadows are so rich in joy!_"-_The Tragic Tale of Romeo and Juliet_, William Shakespeare

Fighting the kirema anima had really taken a toll on me. When I woke up, it was one o'clock, and the sun was shining with its full intensity in my face.

"God, I want more sleep." I murmured into my pillow, willing myself to go back to sleep. _Today's gonna suck big time…_ A soft knock tapped on the door.

"Komori, are you awake?" Keiichiro's voice came from the other side. I groggily sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"No." I yawned. Keiichiro walked in and gave me a big smile.

"Goodness, you slept in awfully late, didn't you? I have a surprise for you downstairs." Keiichiro continued to smile quietly.

"A good or bad surprise?" I asked, grouchily climbing out of bed.

"I'm pretty sure it's a good surprise." Keiichiro laughed. When we bounded down the stairs, I didn't see anything that would really resemble a 'good surprise', which usually meant 'gift', and 'gift' usually took the shape of a box with ribbon on it.

"Um, where is it, Keiichiro?" I asked, still looking around.

"On the phone." He said as he handed me the phone.

"Uh, hello?" I said into the phone.

"Hey, honey! It's Mom!" Mom squealed into the phone. The connection wasn't very good and she sounded like she was talking via radio.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to see what you've been up to." Mom said, sounding a little hurt.

"Nothing that you would be interested in."

"Oh, come on! You can't be mad at me forever... Tell me what you've been doing in school."

"…Okay. Most of the time I sit there in class plotting world domination and checking my recent heroine and cocaine sales, but lately I've tried to focus more on a pending alien invasion." I replied. Well, half of it was true.

"You've still got that bad attitude and your sense of humor. Tell me what you've really been doing in school." Mom snorted. _I did tell you!_

"Fine. I'm on the fencing team." I sneered.

"That sounds fun, Komori. I'll have to come over to visit some time! I'd love to see you!" Mom said excitedly.

"I don't think I could bear the excitement."

"Well, how have you been, then?" she asked, changing the subject. _Let's see: yesterday I was nearly murdered by a giant bird and an alien, but other than that, I've been relatively unhurt to some extent._

"Okay, I guess." I lied.

"Any boyfriends?" Mom pried, still excited. I paused for a while to contemplate the question.

"……Not really." I blushed, trying to keep the fangirl squeal from coming out.

"Komori, it's just a simple 'yes' or 'no' question." Mom snapped.

"Well, he hasn't--. You know what? I don't think it's any of your business."

"I'm your mother, Komori. It's definitely my business." She retorted.

"Well, it was absolutely lovely talking with you, mother, but I have to go save the world from a pending alien invasion _way_ across town, 'Bye!" I said and hung up before Mom could say anything. _I'd forgotten how much I hate that woman._ Keiichiro came behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"That was…very creative. But you really should have been nicer to her, Komori." Keiichiro pointed out.

"I've never been that fond of her." I waved my hand lazily and trudged into the kitchen. Kish was sitting at the table peering over Pai's shoulder, who was working on some sort of small microchip-like device.

"Komori, I need to talk to you." Pai whispered urgently, motioning me to come over to him.

"What?" I asked, looking over his other shoulder.

"Ryou has asked me to make a tracking device to insert into the Mew the next time we see 'her'." I thought it would be wise to warn you in advance of the device." He said.

"Can't you just make it malfunction?" I asked.

"I wish. Ryou doesn't trust us, so I know he's going to test it before it's used. I have also made him a device much like your watch. So you must start being even more careful than before." He continued.

"Damn it! What does he want me for, anyway?" I whispered, banging my fist on the table.

"Not sure." Kish shook his head.

"God…" I muttered, sighing. Keiichiro walked in and noticed us whispering and the tracking device on the table.

"Ah. Is it ready yet, Pai?" Keiichiro asked, still eyeing us suspiciously.

"Almost. How are we going to insert it into the Mew?" Pai asked.

"Leave that to me and Ryou. Follow me to the lab." Keiichiro said, taking the aliens out of the kitchen. _They're going to discuss plans to capture me and I can't even hear them!_ I wasn't about to let Ryou insert some freaky tracking device into my bloodstream. _Hm…Wait! Masha has a built-in camera!_

"Masha!" I beckoned. Masha flew to me with a delighted 'Tweet'.

"Okay, Masha. I want you to go down into Ryou's lab to see what they're talking about and record it all. But stay as inconspicuous as possible. Understand?" I ordered. Masha tweeted in confirmation and followed Keiichiro and the aliens down into the lab. _Now to wait and hope that Masha doesn't get caught…_ It was nearly two o'clock when Masha quietly twittered up to my room, where I had been waiting.

"It's about time, Masha. Let's see what we got here… Masha, access recorded laboratory tapes." Masha buzzed and a hologram projected from his eyes: Ryou and Keiichiro were standing in front of Kish, Pai, and Tart. Pai stepped forward and presented the tracking device to Ryou.

"You can be certain that there are no flaws in the design or programming." Pai said certainly.

"We'll see. I still don't trust you from all that Tokyo Continental Renaissance stuff you pulled." Ryou's eyes narrowed as he took the tracker to his computer to scan it.

"So, what's the plan?" Kish asked curiously, almost as if he knew I would be listening.

"Well, we're planning on creating our own kirema anima to attract the Mew. During the battle, our kirema anima will inject the tracker into the Mew. We can track all her actions, and eventually capture her." Keiichiro said.

"And you're just going to make this kirema anima and let it attack all those people? That's so unlike you, Ryou." Tart stated.

"No. We're planning on taking it to some deserted area in town. We're leaning towards the dump." Keiichiro replied.

"But a few people are bound to be hurt in the process, you know." Kish said seriously.

"We're hoping no one will be around. But we've already started to anticipate some people getting hurt, not including the Mew, of course." Keiichiro said. _Oh god…_

"And what if she destroys the creature before the tracker can be inserted?" Pai asked, somewhat amused by the plan.

"And you also forgot to factor in how long it takes to make a kirema anima." Kish pointed out.

"Heh, well, we've actually already made one that's ready to be used. And, Pai, if she destroys it first, we can just move in and capture her with a device I've recently made." Ryou answered from the computer.

"Hm, sounds pretty good, I guess." Kish said, looking away thoughtfully. The hologram fuzzed out.

"Hey! What gives, Masha?" I asked, annoyed. Masha gave a small shrug and a tweet. "Oh, well. At least we know the plan, right?" I said, trying to look at the brighter side. I had to find a way to thwart Ryou's plan.

"Komori!" Ryou called from downstairs, "Someone's here for you!" _Probably Takara…_ I bounded downstairs to find Kiyoshi standing by the door. Kish was standing in front of Kiyoshi, staring at him in the eyes.

"What's your problem?" Kiyoshi asked, pushing Kish away.

"You're sending off a negative, but familiar aura." Kish said, still analyzing Kiyoshi.

"_You're_ sending off a freaky aura." Kiyoshi said, backing away from Kish.

"Um, Kiyoshi, what are you doing here?" I asked from the stairs. Kiyoshi looked up at me and smiled gently.

"Well, I just wanted to surprise you-- But I guess I came at a bad time." He said, looking over at Kish, who was nearly foaming at the mouth and twitching.

"Oh no, no! He's always like that. Couldn't have been better timing!" I said walking over to Kiyoshi. Ryou came up behind us and cleared his throat.

"I'm guessing you're Kiyoshi?" he said with a disdainful tone.

"Yes. Are you Komori's brother or something?" Kiyoshi replied with the same tone.

"No, I'm her older cousin. What are you here for?" Ryou replied.

"I'm just here to take Komori out. Is it a problem?" Kiyoshi asked, with a fake politeness oozing in his tone.

"No, I guess not...Have fun." Ryou said, waving his hand and walking away. I waited for Ryou to be out of earshot.

"Sorry about Ryou. He's not very social." I apologized.

"Kind of like you?" Kiyoshi asked.

"What? I'm social!" I whined.

"No, you're not… Anyway, let's get out of here." He said, grabbing my hand.

"You're not going to drag me halfway across Tokyo again, are you?" I winced, preparing to have my arm virtually ripped off again as we stepped out the door.

"Nah. I just thought we could go for a walk. Is that cool?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Yeah! Sounds great!" I replied. Anything was better than being locked up in the house all day.

"Cool." He smiled, holding my hand. The bright sun beat down on us as we walked the streets of Tokyo, talking and laughing. I hadn't ever remembered having this much fun with anyone before.

"So, what was up with that freak back at your house?" Kiyoshi asked. _Think fast…_

"Oh. He's just…a family friend. I'm not that big of a fan of him either." I replied. It was sort of true, I guess. It was at the point where I nearly loved to hate Kish.

"Is he on some sort of medication?" Kiyoshi joked.

"He should be." I chuckled. A zephyr picked up and gently rolled the hair out of Kiyoshi's face. _Oh, the temptation._

"Hey, I wanna show you something." Kiyoshi whispered to me, his voice almost lost in the wind. His expression gave me a feeling of eerie excitement as he tenderly led me down the sidewalk. He didn't break into a full-on sprint, but instead a steady trot. The sweet tang of salt and musty seaweed mixed into the air as I realized we were nearing the harbor. Kiyoshi put his finger to his lips as he stealthily led me to a cylindrical building that towered over the docks. On further inspection, it was an abandoned lighthouse that seemed to be as old as the hills: vines and weeds enshrouded its outer wall, making it impossible to determine its original color; rusted rivets dotted the sections of wall that were visible. The sun was beginning to set; the lighthouse gave off a tall shadow that landed directly over Kiyoshi and I. Kiyoshi led me to the rear of the lighthouse, the side that was facing the sea. He reached into the lighthouse's armor of weeds, apparently looking around for something.

"Um, Kiyoshi—."

Kiyoshi motioned for silence as he intently continued to search the never ending tangle of weeds. A few seconds later a Kiyoshi smiled in triumph as he latched onto a brass hook with his hand. He tackled the area above the hook and with a few jabs, a 'door' pushed in.

"Right this way, Mademoiselle." Kiyoshi said as he chivalrously held the door open for me to walk in. The lighthouse smelled of sawdust and rust. Spider webs draped over every object in the room and each step I took kicked up handfuls of dirt into the air. A scraping noise echoed through the lighthouse as Kiyoshi pulled in the door.

"Well, yeah…this is really…_beautiful_, Kiyoshi." I managed to mutter through mouthfuls of dust. Kiyoshi wiped the dust and dirt of his hands and gave me a look.

"If you think that _this_ is beautiful, then wait until I show you what I took you here to see." He said. I blushed, realizing my utter stupidity.

"Come on."

He grabbed my hand and ushered me up a twisting flight of stairs that lay hidden in a dark doorway. The steps were made of solid concrete, but were so coated in dust that our footsteps were inaudible. We continued our silent trek up the stairs for what seemed like several eternities. Kiyoshi stopped me as we came to the top of the stairs; he shouldered open a wooden door that I had just now realized laid in front of us. A wave of warm orange sunlight washed over us coupled with the sweet aroma of the sea. I came to my senses and saw that we were at the utmost top of the lighthouse, looking out over the sea. I drew in my breath in amazement.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kiyoshi said, hypnotically gazing into the sea's azure waters.

"Yeah." I exhaled.

The royal blue and emerald waters of the sea was filled with the jubilant movements of marine life and the cacophonous, yet soothing whirs of boat engines. The setting sun added a tranquil veil of fiery orange to the scene. By far, it was the most breathtaking view I had ever seen; it seemed to have a personality and life all its own. We both stared out at the sea, leaning over the rusting rail of the lighthouse. Kiyoshi quietly cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Hm?" I asked. Kiyoshi scratched the back of his head and started to fidget.

"Well, um…I want to say…I brought you here to tell you…That I, That I—." he attempted.

"I'm not going anywhere." I said, feeling a flood of excitement. He took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to say that…I really like you, Komori." Kiyoshi looked down, blushing furiously. _Oh my god, he's so adorable!_ "I like you a lot, too, Kiyoshi." He looked up with a look of complete surprise on his face.

"You…do?" he asked, dumbstruck.

"Well, of course! Don't you think I would've rejected you today if I didn't like you?" I said, gently punching him in the arm.

"You're right." Kiyoshi whispered, leaning over me, taking my face in one hand. Our eyes closed and I felt his breath on my face. _He's going to chicken out…_ I felt his suave lips lock with mine as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I wasn't sure how long we kissed, but the sun had already sunk halfway down the horizon by the time we had pulled away from each other. I glanced at Kiyoshi, who now was making the 'lovesick frog' face. I giggled. He clasped his hand around mine and murmured in my ear. "Let's get you home. I don't want Ryou to have a bad impression of me." Kiyoshi winked. Kiyoshi escorted me to the front door and gave me a quick hug good-bye. _My life's not as bad as I thought_… As I walked in, I found Ryou fuming by the door, beginning his interrogation as soon as he caught sight of me.

"Where were you?", "Do you know what time it is?", "Something could've happened to you!", "Your Mom would kill me if something happened to you!" etc.

"At the lighthouse. Don't care. Health insurance. You deserve it." Was my answer.

_Okay, just a _few_ parts of my life suck…_


	19. The Plot Thickens

**Chapter Nineteen: The Plot Thickens ****谋划变厚**

"All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever present perils of life." –Herman Melville, _Moby Dick_

It was the end of October and the days were growing increasingly cooler. The holiday season was coming up and I couldn't help but be curious as to what holidays Japan celebrated. When I asked Ryou he said, "So many that I've just stopped counting. Now go away."

I was sitting in Homeroom, being bored to death, as usual. The teacher strolled up to the front of the class with a thick stack of papers in her arms. _Oh joy. A quiz._

"Okay guys! As many of you know, our school is hosting a Culture Festival for Bunka No Hi. I'm going to pass out these packets to you guys. If you're interested in helping out with the festival, just fill out the form at the back; just follow the directions. Also, if you want to make your own booth, that's perfectly fine, but make sure you run it by me before you do anything." She announced. _Bunka no wha-?_ The teacher passed back the packets; I fingered mine as if it were a dead rat.

Takara came up to me after homeroom jabbering away about what kind of booth she wanted to make. Something about the history of the bonsai tree…

"What are you going to do for the festival?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm going to be at home playing my guitar and eating junk food." I replied. _I've got so much to deal with that I can't even do that anymore, with all this alien business._

"But, Komori! It would give you such a good insight into Japanese traditions!" she whined.

"Look at me, Takara. Do I look Japanese?"

"Well…no. But you really shouldn't be missing out on this great cultural experience!"

"Fine! I'll _go_ but that's it. No dressing up in kimonos or dancing Kabuki." I said.

"Actually, men usually dance Kabuki." She informed me.

"Whatever."

I wasn't all too sure why I was being so stubborn on the subject; I didn't like being mean to Takara, but I had so much stuff on my mind that it was hard not to. Takara looked a little hurt and got the clue that I didn't want to talk to her.

"I'll see you later Komori." She murmured and continued down the hall. _Great, now she's mad at me._

I got my junk out of my locker and hastily stuffed it all inside my backpack, provoking a 'TWURCK!' from Masha. "Sorry, Masha." I grumbled and headed down the hallway to after-school fencing practice on the front lawn. The rest of the team was suiting up by the time I emerged from the double-doors. I slipped on my helmet as I jogged down the steps to join them.

"Well, nice of you to join us Komori." The coach sneered. He never was that fond of me; probably because I was a girl or some stupid little reason like that.

I gave him a look of utmost hatred (I was wearing my helmet, so it didn't really make much of a difference) before joining the swarm of white helmets. Kiyoshi was standing at the back; I stood next to him. You could say that we were 'officially' going out, but it really was the same as 'dating'. Nothing special. Nothing new.

"Hey, Komori." He said vaguely.

"Hey. What drills are we doing today?" I asked.

"Time attack." He responded.

"That's all?"

"Yeah, he wants to make some sort of announcement about that festival." He yawned. _Oh yay._

"You seem pretty tired, Kiyoshi. How much sleep did you get?" I asked.

"None." He yawned. Before we could continue our meaningless conversation, the coach stood up and shouted, "Come on, guys! Time attack!" He clapped his hands; our signal to find a partner. The objective of Time Attack was to see who could hit their opponent the most in ten minutes. Naturally, Kiyoshi and I paired up together.

We both stood at ready with our lances held out to each other. "GO!" the coach yelled.

We dove at each other, slashing out with our swords. SLAP! Kiyoshi's lance found its mark on my shoulder. I plunged my lance towards his chest in one fluid motion; he staggered. I twirled my lance in my hand as Kiyoshi regained his footing. We continued at it, Kiyoshi scoring three more hits, and I two. At the end of the drill everyone was tired and breathless.

"Okay, guys! Good job, good job! Come over here and sit down." The coach called. We huddled together into a mass of sweat and panting.

"I've decided that this year we're going to set up a booth for the Culture Festival!" he announced. We stared at him as if he had just said he was the Queen of Switzerland.

"Um, coach… Fencing isn't really a Japanese culture. Now, if we were the kendo club it would be different--." One boy started.

"It's a culture if I say so! We're doing a booth on it and I need volunteers to work it and give 'live performances'!" the coach bellowed._ Lame, lame, lame._

"Kiyoshi, I'm absolutely requiring your presence there, and his battle partner will be……Komori!" the coach decided off the top of his head.

"WHA--?" I wailed. Kiyoshi seemed slightly amused.

"No buts, both of you are going to show up. Now, I'll need some people to put it together and run it…Hm? No one wants to volunteer? Okay, then, Botan, Haruko, thank you for generously volunteering." The coach continued. _Great, now I have to go to that stupid festival…_

Kiyoshi came up to me when the coach had dismissed us with a wave of his hand.

"This is going to be awesome, Komori!" he said happily.

"Yeah…awesome." I grumbled. He noticed my blatant unenthusiasm.

"What? You don't want to be in the festival?" he asked, sounding slightly hurt, thinking that if was his fault for how I felt.

"No, not really. It's nothing that anyone's done; I've just got a lot of crap to deal with lately." I said, pulling my hand through my hair.

"Anything I can help with?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulder as we continued to walk. _Well, you could actually kick some alien butt with those fencing moves of yours…_

"No." I replied, leaning my head on his shoulder. As we neared the parking lot, I remembered that Ryou could be in the limo, and wouldn't appreciate seeing Kiyoshi's arm around my shoulder.

"Oh, there's my ride. I'll see you later, Kiyoshi!" I said, pulling his arm off my shoulders and trotted towards the limo. Kiyoshi had a confused look on his face, but let me run towards the car.

_Why did I do that?_

I opened the door without looking back at Kiyoshi, feeling a little ashamed that I had run away like I did. Ryou waited inside, looking out the window at Kiyoshi, who had turned around and started walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

"What was that all about?" Ryou asked.

"What was what?" I asked innocently.

"As soon as you saw the limo you just shoved Kinnoshi off of you." Ryou said.

"His name's Kiyoshi. And so what?"

"His name won't matter in a few years anyways. It just looked kind of funny …Like you didn't want me to see you two together." Ryou said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I didn't want to get the 'What are you hanging out with him for?' speech." I said. The limo started up and steered out of the school towards home.

"Is that what that was? Komori, I'm just trying to give you a hard time. It's just that I worry about you. Trust me, I don't like the change either; it makes me feel old." Ryou explained.

"Still…Could you lay off just a little?" I asked.

"No prob." He winked and gave me a thumbs up.

I was now busier than ever with the preparations for the stupid festival. All the different clubs were setting up booths: The Kabuki Club (that would be pretty funny to watch...), Kendo (bleh), and all sorts of other obscure clubs that no one had heard of such as the 'Japanese Story-Telling Club'. I felt pretty sorry for Botan and Haruko, who were in charge of setting up our booth and running it. So far they had gotten as far as constructing a booth and painting it a vibrant red. "The sign of courage," Botan had told me. They had also managed to build a rickety platform where Kiyoshi and I were supposed to duel. But it looked like if you so much as stepped on it, it would collapse and be nothing more than a pile of wood with a few nails clinging to it. We had approximately five days until the festival, which was on November 3, to perfect all the details.

Surprisingly, no alien alerts had popped up, giving me ample time to just be…normal. I spent most of my time on that festival, but also a lot with Kiyoshi and Takara.

"Where are you going again?" Ryou asked me one day as I called him, telling him that I'd be late.

"Setting up our booth for the festival. I've been doing that for the past few days and I tell you the same thing EVERY day." I grumbled, rubbing my temples in frustration. Ryou could be so dense sometimes.

"Right, Right. Have fun" Ryou said and hung up. _Whatever. Tomorrow's that festival and we don't have anything worth setting up at all. This is gonna suck._

Our booth was being set up in the cafeteria, where there was room to set up a stage for us to fence. When I walked in, Botan, Haruko, and Kiyoshi were hard at work nailing together the stage, trying to get it to stay in one piece. Kiyoshi looked up at me and waved at me with his hammer.

"Hey, Komori. Just finishing up the goddamn stage." Kiyoshi greeted, kneeling back down to continue his work.

"It looks like it's coming along quite …nicely. When do you think it'll be done?" I asked, inspecting their craftsmanship.

"We're staying until it's done. Feel free to join in." Haruko said as he motioned over to a hammer and a stack of nails. _Nothing better to do…_

I sat next to Kiyoshi with my hammer and several nails clasped between my lips. The stage was roughly the size of a small living room. About half of it was already fixed, but still slightly rickety. _I can't believe they expect us to actually walk around on this thing…_

I started to hammer, joining in with the steady clacking of the boys. As I laid down a nail, I didn't move my finger _quite_ fast enough, slamming the hammer with full force onto it. I emitted a large yowl, holding my thumb in pain. Haruko and Botan took a break from their hammering long enough to roll on the ground in hysterical laughter. Kiyoshi looked over at me and pulled my hand towards him to examine.

"Ouch. I'm betting that hurt." Kiyoshi said as he looked over my throbbing finger.

"No. I shrieked because it felt good." I said sarcastically.

"Heh. Well, just apply pressure to it and it'll eventually quit. Oh, and don't hammer your finger. Not good." Kiyoshi said, wagging his finger as if scolding a naughty child.

Botan and Haruko had gotten over their convulsive laughter and had begun to hammer away at the stage again. "Yeah, Yeah." I muttered.

We worked on the stage for another hour until we all deemed it worthy of being called a stage…okay, platform would have been a better description. Or maybe 'a mass jumble of nails and wood thrown together'. Yeah, more like that.

"Oh, Komori! We finally finished the booth!" Haruko said as he led me towards what was probably our booth covered with an old white bedsheet.

Botan removed the sheet to reveal a booth slightly taller than himself; it was painted red with the words "The Fencing Team" printed on the top in black. It was built far better than the stage was; it didn't wobble uncontrollably when you so much as poked it.

"Hm. Nice job." I murmured, not caring one way or the other. Kiyoshi glanced at his wristwatch.

"Ugh. It's already six…I say we hit the sack and worry about everything tomorrow." Kiyoshi yawned.

"Amen." Botan said, covering the booth back up.

**Below Earth… ****在地球下面 ******

Resu approached Ronin with a grin on his face.

"What do you want?" Ronin sighed angrily. _He's such an annoying little twit…_

"I have excellent news, Master!" Resu stated, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

"You've caught a deadly disease and are dying a slow, painful death?" Ronin asked blandly.

"Not quite, Master. I have discovered the identity of this Mew girl. And I also have a fool-proof plan to get rid of her. Of course, I will have to employ the help of a few friends…" Resu explained. Ronin's interest was piqued.

"I like what I hear. Continue."

"There is a large celebration going on at her … 'school' I think it was called, that is a tribute to their culture."

"And--?" Ronin asked, growing weary of Resu's frequent pauses when he babbled.

"Much of their culture consists of monsters. And many of the humans are dressing up as these monsters, which would make it awfully difficult to spot a real one. Such as a tengu, perhaps…" Resu continued. A smile spread across Ronin's pale face, showing off his abnormally long canines as he finally understood what Resu meant.

"I must give you praise for extracting such an excellent idea from your benumbed mind, Resu. Make the proper arrangements." Ronin commanded.

**November Third, The Culture Festival 11 ****月 ****3 ****日，文化节日**

The Festival was held during school to increase the likelihood of student attendance. "Visitors of any sort were welcome to join the festivities!" as our principal had said yesterday. Flyers had even been handed out all over town. I had arrived at school early to aid Kiyoshi, Botan, and Haruko in setting up the booth. _I'm going to pretend to be sick the next time we have a festival of _any_ sort._

I was fully clad in my fencing outfit, evoking some confused stares from a lot of the students and a few members of the faculty. Thankfully, the stage was just as we had left it last night, in one piece. The booth was also holding together quite nicely.

"This is so stupid." I muttered to myself when I noticed all the other booths that were set up in the cafeteria, which were all the space-consuming ones. The Japanese Storytelling Club was set up directly across from where we had placed our platform. People were scurrying to and fro, a few dressed as monsters and many wrapped up in elegant kimonos. _Oh, they _act_ out stories…like a play._ I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I turned around to see Kiyoshi.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Kiyoshi!" I said pleasantly.

"Hey. Are you ready for our 'battle'?" he asked pleasantly.

"I guess so. I just want to get this whole thing over with." I sighed.

"It'll be a lot more exciting than you think." Kiyoshi said with a hinting tone as he put his arm around my shoulders. It stirred up all the guilt and embarrassment I had felt when I had run away from him.

"I guess." I muttered.

Botan and Haruko jogged up to us.

"Hey, guys. Everything's set up and ready to go! Now I guess we just wait for the crowds, eh?" Botan said.

"Gonna be a boring day. But I guess it's better than having class all day…" Haruko said thoughtfully.

"Mm." I murmured in agreement. Meanwhile the Storytelling people were taking their places to begin a short run-through of the story they were telling.

A boy dressed in a stunning crow-like outfit flapped his way onto the stage, delivering his monologue about his plan to go to the local human palace to kill the king and to take the beautiful queen as his bride. The story ended tragically, as the king had found out about the tengu's (that was the name of the creature) plan and had the beast slaughtered.

_Well that was completely pointless._ Kiyoshi, Haruko, and Botan had been watching the play along with me as we waited for the festival to begin.

"That guy's costume was so good! He could have passed as a real tengu!" Botan exclaimed.

"Yeah, imagine how long it took to make it." I said.

"It was a little _too_ realistic, if you ask me." Kiyoshi muttered.

"What? It's not like you've ever seen a tengu, Kiyoshi. Just go with it." Haruko said.

Kiyoshi snarled. "Maybe I have seen one." He retorted.

Before we could ask what Kiyoshi had been smoking, a flood of people swept into the cafeteria; our signal to shut up and get to the booth. Kiyoshi and I slid on our helmets, got our lances, and took our positions on the platform. I was afraid that I was going to lose my balance on the platform, which violently rocked every time I took a step.

"Ladies and Gents! Step over here to get a sublime sample of true strength, cunning, and grace from these two talented members of the Fencing Team!" Haruko yelled out over the heads of the crowd. His excellent word usage was probably the catch that caught everyone's eye. Kiyoshi and I stood at ready, waiting for Botan to give us the signal to begin our fight.

When Botan thought a large enough crowd had gathered, he chimed a small series of bells and yelled, "GO!"

Kiyoshi leapt forward, his lance just nearly missing my midriff. I stepped back and tensed my muscles for a spring when Kiyoshi's lance clanged against my shoulder. I used the pent-up energy in my legs to propel myself at him. _I'm going to give this my all._

That seemed to be what Kiyoshi was thinking, too, as he lunged at me at the same time. We met up with each other, our lances preventing either from advancing. I tried sliding mine down his lance to get released, but he wouldn't allow it.

_Only one way out of this one…_

I tensed my legs a final time and sprung away from Kiyoshi; my balance got weird and made me turn backwards, a variable I hadn't thought of. A ripple of excited gasps swept through the crowd. I landed with my lance in the air by my ear, pointed at Kiyoshi. He stood there for a minute, taking in what he had saw and ran at me with full speed with his lance aimed at my shoulder. I let his own momentum be his downfall: As he ran at me I swung around and managed to land two hits on his shoulder. My satisfaction served as a distraction that Kiyoshi used to his full advantage, slapping me in the back with the side of his lance. I fell onto the platform in defeat. The crowd gave a loud roar of applause as Kiyoshi helped me up.

"Are you okay?" he asked as we both bowed to the audience.

"Yeah, fine." I said breathlessly. We stepped down from the platform for a short breather before beginning our next sequence.

"That back flip was a piece of art, Komori." Haruko congratulated.

"I almost thought that I was going to get beaten by a girl." Kiyoshi winked.

"Oh, ha ha." I muttered.

The Storytelling Club began to run their play again for the audience. The tengu appeared on the stage, but looked much different than before. The costume was much more…realistic. _Must've given it some touch-ups. It looks pretty good…_ The tengu's mischievous orange eyes darted about the audience as it began its monologue.

"For many moons now I have had my eye on the gorgeous Queen Lida, but she has long since been betrothed to the King Oriel. But, hey. Who needs a queen when you have a Mew to hunt down? …One that, in fact, sits in this very room." The tengu crooned. My eyes widened. That tengu knew about Mews, and what's worse, he knew I was here! Curious whispering drifted up from the audience. The tengu stood tall, stretching out its massive wings.

"Come, now, little Mew. Reveal yourself……Refuse, eh? Then I suppose that I shall have to go through every one of these humans until I find you!" the tengu announced as it jumped into the audience. Once again I witnessed the scene of pandemonium that seemed to be happening more and more often: people screaming, things being broken. People darted this way and that, trying to get out of the cafeteria. I peered to my side to see that Kiyoshi had already run off with the rest of the panicked crowds. _I wonder if he knows he forgot me? At any rate, now I can fight that…thing in Mew form._

I scanned the room to assure myself that every person had filed out; they all had. "Mewtemorphosis!" I whispered as I ducked behind the platform.

The tengu's keen hearing picked up my whisper; he was advancing slowly. _Wait until he gets closer…_

He was only ten feet away from my hiding place at the edge of the platform. _Wait for it……_

The tengu had set foot on top of the platform, which was now of the brink of collapsing. He stuck out his snakelike tongue out to taste the air for my scent and followed it like a bloodhound. When he was about two feet away from me I lashed out with my lance; he never saw it coming. I shot it through one of his thickly feathered arms as he grabbed me by the throat with his uninjured arm.

"There you are! Ronin will be pleased with me for getting rid of you, little pest!" he laughed as his taloned hand drew in more and more. The scene before me drifted in and out again as I kicked and fought to free myself from his grasp. He squeezed even tighter; I couldn't get any air…everything went dark.

_Help……He-_


	20. A Winged Savior

**Chapter Twenty: A Winged Savior ****一个被飞过的救星**

I woke in a twilight world, flying in misty wisps of clouds, looking down on the bustling world below. _What happened? Am I dead? Is this heaven?_

I felt a light pressure around my waist. When I craned my neck forward to see what it was that was holding me I found that it was someone's arms! _I thought in heaven you had your own wings…Who's holding me up, anyways?_ I rotated in the air to come face-to-face with Dark Aid.

"AAAAHHHH! Woah! What happened? Where am I?" I demanded.

Dark Aid grinned. "Don't worry. You will have all the answers in good time. Let me find a place to land." He gripped me tighter and plunged into a nose-dive.

"WOAH!" I screamed. _I'm not used to flying like this!_

We alighted on the roof of a tall building that towered over all others. I had been clinging onto Dark Aid for dear life during the air dive, and was still clutching onto him when we had safely landed.

"Ow! Retract your claws! That hurts!" he yowled as he pried my fingernails out of his back.

"Well maybe you should've told me that we were going to do a full-on nosedive!" I snapped back.

"Would you care to know how you ended up here?" Dark Aid said, trying to change the subject.

"…Yeah." I sighed, lowering myself down as I realized how weary I was.

"By the time that I had gotten a distress signal, I came in to find you in the clutches of that tengu. It appeared that you had already lost consciousness. I snuck up behind the beast and managed to stab it until you were released, but the tengu escaped. I took you with me, with hopes that you would awaken. I am glad that you are okay." Dark Aid said.

"Well…thanks for saving me…" I thanked him awkwardly.

"No problem. This will mean severe damage control, of course. I strongly suggest that you get home before Ryou gets worried." He suggested. I tried to stand, but my jelly-legs just wouldn't allow me to. I sat back down and curled into a ball on the ground.

"I should have known. You're too weak to fly. I guess we'll have to take the 'Dark Aid Express', then." He winked as he picked me up. I would have objected, but the weariness piled up on me in massive heaps and I found myself drifting to sleep again.

I woke up staring at my bubblegum-colored ceiling with a slight headache. _I was out for a while…_A slight chilling breeze rippled through the room, sending the shivers down my spine. I pushed myself up to close the window, where I assumed the breeze was coming from. Where else would it be, really? A dark figure loomed in the sill of the window against the dark of the sky behind it. I let out a gasp of surprise, somehow thinking it was the tengu.

The figure stood and walked towards me.

"Get away!" I screamed, swatting the figure away.

"Calm down, it's just me." I heard Dark Aid say as he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Oh." I breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed fairly amused.

"Lie back down. I was just about to go anyways." He said, ushering me back to bed. As I clambered into the sheets Dark Aid stood at the sill, ready to spring into the night.

"Um, Wait! Please!" I begged, seizing his attention.

"Yes?" he asked as he hopped down from the sill and approached closer, seeming not to fully trust me.

"Could you…stay? I have a lot of questions I want to ask you." I told him as I pulled myself up.

"Such as…?" he inquired.

"Well, for starters, you could tell me your _real_ name and where you're from."

He snorted. "I thought I already told you all of that?"

"Yeah, but I want the actual truth." I said with a determined tone. I was going to weasel everything I could out of him. He took a seat at the foot of my cupcake-like bed, sighing.

"The…_truth_?" he asked, not seeming to know the definition of 'truth'

"Yes, the truth would be nice." I crossed my arms.

"Right, right…" he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. This was the first time I had really seen him so flustered. He scooted to my side, regaining confidence.

"You want to know the truth?" he asked with a mysterious glint in his coal-black eyes as he leaned towards me, getting into the 'invading personal space' zone. _Okay…he's getting creepy…_ He reached towards my hair, fingering the blonde and purple streaks.

"You're so beautiful, Komori. Why do you insist on doing all this to yourself?" he asked, taking a pitying tone. _What the--!_

He tilted closer. "So…beautiful…" he eyed my face, which was wearing a look of utmost repulsion.

"Woah! I just wanted to know your name!" I tried to push him away, but he still kept leaning. His face wasn't even an inch away from mine.

"Um, please! I have a bo--!" I started as I felt myself being pushed down. _Oh my God! What do I do? What if he's one of those creepy rapists who stalk innocent girls or something?_ His lips pressed themselves onto mine; my eyes widened. _GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!_

His kiss turned into quite a…passionate one: he forced his lips down even harder as he tilted his head, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist to prevent me from wiggling away. _Please…Please stop! I haven't even gotten this far with Kiyoshi yet!_ _Gross, gross, gross, gross…_

I felt his lips let go of mine with a soft smacking sound as he lifted himself up.

I wiped my mouth furiously. "What's _wrong_ with you? I have a boyfriend, you repulsive--!" I froze in midsentence to gaze at the boy looking down at me.

He had shocking electric green eyes now…and shiny raven hair that fell over his face.


	21. Author's Note, II

**Author's Note:**

Woah! Thanks for commenting, guys! I'm so happy you like my fanfiction! …But as for now I'm brain-dead and I can't think up the next part of the story…so please don't attack me with your sharpest spoons. O.O

I honest-to-goodness will update as soon as I can think of the rest!

AutumnXMidnight


	22. The Truth

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Truth ****真理**

Author's Note: Yep, it's a short chapter. Deal with it. :3

"K-kiyoshi?" I whispered in disbelieving horror.

Kiyoshi smiled impishly and helped me up. "Hey Komori."

"What the hell just happened? ...H-how could you be…?" I trailed off.

"You wanted the truth, and that's what you got." He said in an I-told-you-so tone.

"But how? ...Why?" I stuttered, at a loss for words. He massaged his forehead in exasperation. He grasped my shoulders and shook me slightly.

"That before was the real me. This is just a mask." He motioned to himself. He paused to observe the dumbstruck expression smeared across my face before resuming his explanation.

"Everything I told you the other day was true. I don't really have a name; I just go by Kiyoshi…or 'Dark Aid' in _your_ case. And I have been pursuing Ronin practically my whole life: I don't know anything else that I could do…Um, is any of this making any sense?" he asked as he gripped my shoulders tighter, trying to get me to comprehend all of the implausible information he was feeding to me.

"I'm…getting there…" I muttered unsteadily.

"Oh. I'm sorry about that kiss: I wasn't _trying_ to freak you out…" Kiyoshi murmured apologetically. I smiled faintly and enveloped Kiyoshi in my arms; he warmly squeezed back.

"Heh. And to think, I thought you were a creepy rapist." I muttered lethargically with my head resting under his chin. Kiyoshi's face distorted in confusion and laughter after having to think about what I said.

"Oh dear! You've discovered my secret hobby!" he laughed good-naturedly as he lowered his head to gently lie upon mine.

"So exactly how many other girlfriends have you left behind on all those other planets that you've lived on?" I asked quietly. Kiyoshi yanked out of our tight hug and gawked at me in shocked amazement.

"How could you think something like that?" he asked sternly. "I've been to countless planets and seen so very many women, but none of them even could even hope to compete with you." He looked at me with a look that I could tell was utmost sincerity. _Great, now he's probably mad at me…_ I felt my cheeks grow warm as the shame swept over me. It was Kiyoshi, after all. How could I have forgotten that he's the most trustworthy person I know? _Well, the fact that he just told me that he's an alien… it's going to take a while to get used to that…_

"I-I'm sorry Kiyoshi. I didn't mean to make you upset." I muttered, still disgraced about my presumption.

"It's okay." He said, patting me on the shoulder. "Look, you've had a long day; I should get going…" Kiyoshi sighed, briskly striding towards my open window.

"Um, please don't be mad at me!" I cried after him desperately.

"Komori, it's nothing you've done: I just have to get going. Damage control, you see." Kiyoshi explained as he poised himself in the sill. A pair of velvety bat wings morphed onto his back; he flittered them softly as the night's soft wind beat across his face.

"…Wait, Kiyoshi! What about Ryou? I mean, he has no idea, and if--!" I stated anxiously. Kiyoshi raised his hand to cut me off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I already took care of Ryou: he thinks that you're spending the night at Takara's, so stop freaking out."

"How'd you do that?" I asked, relieved and curious as to how he could possibly convince Ryou on _anything_.

"I have my ways. I'll see you tomorrow, Komori." He whispered and glided into the shadowy depths of the night without another word.

_I have such an awesome boyfriend._


	23. Inhumanity

**Chapter Twenty-three: Inhumanity ****不人道**

Author's Note: Whaddya know! Another short chapter!

"_I refused to attend his funeral. But I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it." –Mark Twain_

-

I hadn't gotten much sleep that night. Instead of drifting into sleep, my mind wandered towards my open window, waiting for Kiyoshi to swoop in again. But it was all in vain; the only noise I heard the whole night was the soft billowing of the curtains in the wind. I fell into an uneasy sleep when the sun had begun to rise, which set the sky aglow with faded pinks and dark hues of blue. When I woke, the sun shone with its full intensity in the middle of a light blue sky.

"Nn." I groaned, rubbing my eyes as I sat up. _I guess I'm not going to school today…_

I pulled on an old t-shirt and a pair of ripped-up jeans as I reviewed everything that happened last night. I found myself disappointed that the festival had been ruined.

_I'm such a hypocrite sometimes, I swear._

And that tengu. Where the heck had he come from?

_Wait a minute. He mentioned Ronin, didn't he? …Yeah, I remember now. There's _definitely_ a connection._

So more than likely the tengu was working with Ronin in this little scheme. I tiptoed out of my room to get breakfast. _I've never even met this guy! Geez, can't he just leave me alone? A girl needs some space._ Scuttling into the kitchen in my sock-clad feet, I noticed Ryou sitting at the table intently reading the newspaper.

"Hm? Oh, hi Komori! Did you have fun at Takara's?" Ryou asked pleasantly in a monotone voice. His eyes were as glazed as a Krispy Kreme doughnut and his speech was slightly slurred as if he'd been drinking.

_Maybe there was a gas leak in the lab._

"Um. Oh, yeah! We had loads of fun!" I told him, retrieving the Frosted Flakes from the pantry. Ryou nodded his head loosely and groggily glanced at his watch. "Oh, I've got to get to the café." He mumbled as he staggered unsteadily across the kitchen. I suppressed a fit of giggles when Ryou tried to walk out the door, completely missing his target, smacking into the wall with a loud thud, and falling onto the floor.

_I bet Kiyoshi had something to do with this…_

I crouched by the lethargic Ryou, who was completely collapsed on the floor giggling like a little schoolgirl.

_--Or could he just be drunk?_

"You pull an all-nighter?" I asked sympathetically, helping him from the floor.

"Heheheheheh…Nope, I'm fine…heheheheheh…" he jumped to his feet and successfully walked out of the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

_I guess they weren't lying when they said most geniuses are insane._

Kiyoshi's words came to mind: "_…I already took care of Ryou: he thinks that you're spending the night at Takara's…"_

_But…how could he have--?_

I shook my head to shake off the thought. I had to stop underestimating Kiyoshi.

After hastily snarfing down the bowl of cereal, I went back upstairs. Hm. Stuck at home all day with nothing to do…what to do, what to do? I immediately knew that boredom was going to rule this day. I took a seat at the vanity that sat by my closet, examining myself. _I've changed so much…Look! Even the purple streaks in my hair are fading…_

It was true. The violet streaks had faded to a festive lavender; I also noticed that I could see the blonde roots at the tips of the purple._ I guess everything from the past is fading away._

**Below Earth…****在地球下面 ******

Ronin reclined in his high-backed chair at the edge of his chamber, anxiously awaiting news of the Mew with a malicious sneer on his face. _I wonder how the tengu killed her._ Right on cue, Resu creaked open the tall door, and nervously meandered towards Ronin with his head down. Ronin's crimson eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Well?" he demanded. Resu scratched his head thoughtfully as he searched for the words.

"Um, well…It's like this—." Resu started. An agitated hiss came from Ronin.

"Resu, you are aware of the fact that I don't take bad news very well. Not well at all." He emphasized the last sentence threateningly.

"Oh, yes. I definitely know that…I guess I'd better get it over with then." He said, wincing as he knew what was going to happen.

"Well?" Ronin prompted impatiently. Resu sighed deeply.

"The tengu did manage to capture her…" Resu started optimistically, hoping that Ronin's anger would be dampened by the good news.

"And--?"

"As soon as she lost consciousness, You-Know-Who came in and scared off the tengu." Resu finished shamefully.

"So…you're telling me she _got away_?" Ronin started, the anger in his voice becoming tangible.

"Um…yeah." Resu whimpered.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" Ronin screamed angrily, his voice making the walls shake. Resu fell into a crumpled heap on the ground and began to bow furiously at Ronin, hoping to be forgiven.

"Please forgive me! It won't happen again sire!" Resu begged fearfully. Ronin stopped in mid-tantrum to glare at Resu.

"Yes. I know it won't happen again." Ronin's lips curled evilly as he grasped the short scepter that sat at the edge of his chair. Resu didn't dare to look at Ronin.

"Thank you, sire!" Resu whispered thankfully, not sensing Ronin's steady approach.

"Oh, you are very welcome." Ronin hissed as he pressed the scepter's cold orb at the back of Resu's neck. Ronin pressed the orb harder onto Resu's neck, eliciting a yelp from Resu.

"Please, sire! Give me one more chance!" Resu cried hysterically.

"No. You have vexed me for the last time." Ronin's voice flowed easily as the orb glowed a savage red. Resu sobbed at Ronin's feet, grasping his ankles and begging for another chance. The orb heated up until it was shining as bright as the sun.

"Good-bye, Resu."

A stream of light flew from the orb and crashed into Resu, silencing his hysterical blubbering. Ronin tossed aside the scepter and nudged Resu's arm with his foot. Resu didn't move. _Dead._ Ronin smiled in accomplishment as he took his seat in the edge of the room, forming a plan to take care of the Mew.


	24. Kiyoshi's Place

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Kiyoshi's Place, Kiyoshi ****的地方**

((Note))

What's up? Sorry about the last chapter, I was in a Hey-I-really-want-to-kill-off-someone-in-my-fanfic mood. I wanted to make it a lot bloodier, but I decided against it. There'll be plenty of time to write about excessive gory bloodshed in other chapters.((Pleasant smile))

AutumnXMidnight

My philosophy had been correct: boredom had been the supreme ruler of the day. I pulled out my guitar and tinkered on it for a while, but other than that, I just sat on my bed in a deep dysphoria ((yes, that's a word)) of boredom, staring at my sickeningly pink ceiling. I attempted to come up with some ideas of what to do about my excessive alien problem, but no ideas prevailed.

_Well…this sucks._

A soft tapping came from the window; I excitedly tried to run to the window, but in my hastiness fell off my bed with a loud thud. I nonchalantly pushed myself back up, pretending I never fell. The incessant tapping grew increasingly louder.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming. I'm coming." I called to the window. The tapping ceased as I opened the window. Lo and behold, there was Kiyoshi perched on my windowsill.

"What's up?" he asked as he crawled in.

"You know, you could just wait on my balcony, it would be a lot more comfortable than perching on my window like a cat." I explained. Kiyoshi rubbed his chin and shrugged.

"Yeah…But where's the fun in that?" he asked as he flopped down on my bed with a soft sigh. I shook my head. I would never understand him.

I sprung onto my bed to sit beside him. "So…um. What are you here for?" I asked curiously. Kiyoshi held his hand to his chest and gasped in mock insult.

"I am thoroughly shocked! Can't I just stop by to say hello to my girlfriend?" Kiyoshi said, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"No. You always have some sort of reason for showing up unexpectedly." I said blandly. Kiyoshi shook his head good-naturedly.

"Well, okay. You're right; I do have a reason for coming." He surrendered.

_Ha, I thought so._

"Spill." I said, my interest piqued.

"'Kay. Well, I was thinking that since Ryou's gone, I could take you to my place and show you around." He offered. I felt my eyes brighten.

"I'd love to!"

Kiyoshi grinned crookedly, pulled me up, and led me to the balcony.

"Look, we'll even go via balcony." He pointed out. Something dawned on me as he flung open the door.

"Hey, Kiyoshi, tell me something. How did you know that Ryou wasn't here?" I inquired as I followed him into the nippy November afternoon. He stopped and looked back at me, looking me over.

"You're much sharper than I thought." He observed.

"You still haven't answered my question." I said, knowing that he was stalling.

"Well, I sort of was sitting on your roof." He mumbled. My jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You're a stalker!" I accused. He ran his fingers through his godlike raven hair in agitation.

"Whatever. I was really sitting up there all night just to make sure that tengu hadn't tracked you down. I just happened to see Ryou leave. It took me a little while to muster up the courage to whisk you away." He explained as he snatched my hand and led me to the edge of the balcony.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say.

"We're using the 'Dark Aid Express', so remember to hold on tight." Kiyoshi said as a pair of bat wings grew from his shoulders. I draped my arms around his shoulders as his muscular arms tightly enveloped my waist. Kiyoshi tensed his legs and propelled us into the bitter wind.

Kiyoshi flew at breakneck speed; I doubted that anyone below us would even notice so much as a black blur in the sky.

_So this is how he can fly during the day and never be noticed._

The harsh wind beat at my face, even though it was buried into Kiyoshi's warm chest. I imagined how hard the wind was slapping him in the face. I dared a quick glance at the world below: cars darted along the grey streets as people ran to and fro, trying to get out of the wind's path. The familiar salty scent of the sea drifted into my nose as we steadily grew closer to the ground. I buried my head into the crook of his neck as he tilted into his favorite landing technique: the nose dive. The wind whistled by as we zoomed downward as fast as a bullet.

_We're going to crash, we're going to crash, we're going to crash and we're going to die._

When my panic had spread through every nerve in my body, the whistling was gone and I felt my feet standing on firm ground. My arms were still frozen around Kiyoshi's neck;

he tapped me on the back a few times.

"Um, Komori…we've already landed, sweetie. You can let go now." He whispered to me. I shakily released him from my arms' grasp, which were both still as stiff as if they'd gone through rigor mortis.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't like nose diving." He apologized.

"N-no…p-problem." I gasped, collapsing onto the ground in gratefulness to be alive. I heard Kiyoshi chuckle as he crouched down and took me into his arms. This was the first time that my surroundings registered in my brain. The scenery around me was familiar; we were standing at the foot of the timeworn lighthouse Kiyoshi had taken me to not too long ago.

_Oh hell no._

"Welcome to my place." Kiyoshi said pleasantly as he watched the expression of horror unfold across my face.

"Is this some sort of joke?" I asked incredulously. Kiyoshi lugged me to the entrance to the lighthouse, smiling at my disbelief.

"Nope." He said, seeming to think that the whole situation was hilarious. Kiyoshi nudged aside the door, shut it behind him, and sat me down on the floor. I steadily stood up and took in everything. Kiyoshi had obviously been very busy cleaning: all the old cobwebs and spiders had been swept away, the floor had been swept and mopped, the clutter that had covered the whole room was now put into various old oak shelves and dressers, a small bed now sat in the darkest corner of the room accompanied with a small lamp, and the musty mold smell had been replaced by the scent of cologne.

"Of course, I had to clean the place up before I told you it was my 'house'." Kiyoshi explained.

"You cleaned up pretty good; it's not a _complete_ mess." I complimented as I still scrutinized the room in amazement. He seemed to be utterly pleased with that short statement.

"But it's better than having an explosion of magenta covering _every little thing_." He teased. I threw him a nasty look.

"How long did it take you to clean all this?" I asked.

"Do you remember that day at fencing practice that I told you I didn't get any sleep?... That long." He said.

"You cleaned all this in _one night_?"

"A-yup." Kiyoshi yawned.

_Talk about workaholic. I wonder if he straightened it all up just for—_

_**CRASH! **_

A huge bomb-like boom came from upstairs; a few small pieces of the ceiling fell onto the tops of our heads.

"What the bloody--?" Kiyoshi exclaimed. I was too shocked to say a single word, but Kiyoshi seemed to have read my mind. He looked over to me and motioned his hand upward. I nodded my head. He mouthed: _1,2,3_ and we both transformed. He motioned for me to follow behind him up the rickety old stairs.

((Note))

Ooo, what could be upstairs?

AutumnXMidnight


	25. Sorrel

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sorrel

As we crept up the stairs, we heard a small crackling noise come from the opposite corridor. Kiyoshi nodded towards it and we both tiptoed towards the source of the noise. As we turned into the musty corridor (that Kiyoshi hadn't bothered to clean) we spotted a lumpy shadow pushing itself up from the floor. I felt Kiyoshi gently push me farther behind him; he proceeded closer to the mass of blackness. The shadow had pulled itself to its feet: from what I could see, it was quite thin and of medium height. The shadow stiffened in alertness and slowly relaxed as Kiyoshi neared.

"Kiyoshi!" The shadow called, running to Kiyoshi and flinging itself on him. I heard Kiyoshi whispering to the shadow in a friendly tone in some sort of alien language.

"Hey, Komori. Come here, I want you to meet someone!" Kiyoshi beckoned to me. I tentatively scuttled to Kiyoshi, who had his hand on the shoulder of some girl. She had shockingly red hair and what I could see of her skin was bedecked with herds of freckles. Her smile was friendly and warm, but she sent chills up my spine.

"Ic dryd wghk atymn!" she said taking my hand and shaking it. My expression of incomprehension must have confused her; she let go of my hand, thinking that she had insulted me in some way. She turned to Kiyoshi for an answer.

"Jukt bist, xasd brey English." Kiyoshi explained to her. Her eyes widened as she finally understood. She turned to me and bowed apologetically.

"Hey, let's go back downstairs and talk there." He told me, then turned to the girl and (I assume) told her the same thing. Kiyoshi turned and motioned for us to follow behind him.

When we had finished our silent journey down the stairs, we each took seats in Kiyoshi's room. I sat in an old cedar chair at a desk, which appeared to be on the brink of collapsing. The girl sat on the floor near Kiyoshi's bed, where Kiyoshi sat. A twinge of jealousy hit me suddenly, and I felt utter hatred for the girl. It was obvious that she and Kiyoshi had history together; I just wondered what _sort_ of history it was.

"I believe that introductions are in order. Komori, this is Sorrel. She was one of my best friends growing up…As you can see, she can't speak your language." Kiyoshi explained.

"Ah." I gave Sorrel a short wave. Sorrel smiled back at me and twirled her red hair. She waved to get Kiyoshi's attention; her face was suddenly serious.

"Ity jyk lipv mithgy redtyp zawt, pergh munv jut esd Ronin. Resu, yukt trabagh par Ronin, es morto ghut Ronin!…Lujghe nos tykp eft nut…despre" she said to him quietly. Kiyoshi seemed thoroughly troubled by whatever she had told him. I had been able to pick up the fact that she was talking about Resu and Ronin, so I knew that the news would probably affect me.

"Komori," Kiyoshi said urgently, "Sorrel traveled all the way here to tell me that Ronin has murdered Resu. She doesn't know what he'll do next, but if he's willing to kill his own minion, he has to be pretty desperate."

_He…killed--? _

"I guess that means we're going to have to be a lot more careful, then…" I said blankly.

"Yeah." Kiyoshi sighed. The fatigue in his voice was tangible; I wished that there was something that I could do.

"Ik bist eftur moi, guyt regt uy polgiey. Ik srae crag Lophia." Sorrel said standing up suddenly. Kiyoshi stood and started gibbering away at her. I just sat in my chair the whole time, feeling like a complete loser because I had no idea what they were saying. After about five minutes of incessant gibberish, it seemed Kiyoshi had given in to whatever it was that Sorrel had said.

He escorted her to the door. She sadly waved to him as she walked through the door, slowly whispering, "Unt kolp nos gai."

Kiyoshi waved back and repeated, "Unt kolp nos gai, Sorrel."

As suddenly as she had been there, Sorrel had faded into the air like a wisp of cloud. Kiyoshi stared at where she had been for a second, and slowly closed the door. His face wore an expression of utter sadness as he took a seat back at his bed, his head in his hands. I rose and went to sit beside him on the bed, and put my arms around his shoulders comfortingly. He sighed and grabbed my waist, pulling me towards him.

"She had to go back home…It's so strange, I haven't ever felt homesick before, but--." Kiyoshi tried to reason with himself.

"Trust me, I understand how you feel. Millions of miles away from home, never sure when you're going back…or if you even want to go back." I said quietly. Kiyoshi pulled me closer to where my head rested in the crook of his neck.

"Komori?" he whispered. I looked up.

"Hm?"

"I love you. I love you so much." Kiyoshi murmured as he pecked a kiss on the top of my head. I smiled slightly, taking in everything: His smell, his warmth, his voice. Everything was absolutely perfect; he didn't have a single flaw.

"I love you too, Kiyoshi." I whispered into his ear. His hands shifted at my waist, going…lower? I felt a red flush sweep over my face.

Kiyoshi's senses seemed to return to him as he checked the ancient grandfather clock that sat at the opposite corner of the room. He released me from his grasp and motioned to the clock. Disappointment flooded over me. I wanted to sit there with him for forever and never have to go back home.

"We'd better get you back home; that oblivious spell I put on Ryou won't last much longer." He explained, helping me up and leading me outside.

When we alighted back on my balcony the sun had already begun to set.

"I had a great time, Kiyoshi." I smiled, still shaken from the flight back home. Kiyoshi fingered a loose strand of my hair that had blown into the cold wind.

"I'm glad." He grinned back as he ushered me into my room.

"Oh, Komori?" Kiyoshi called as I was walking through the doors.

"Yes?"

"Be extra careful from now on. Don't trust anyone too much. Oh, and it's safe for you to go to school tomorrow, although no one will have any recollection of the event, I already made sure of that." He informed me, then jumped off the balcony, flying away at the speed of light.

_I have a feeling that everything is going to change from now on._


	26. Ronin

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Ronin**

I slept soundly that night, which surprised me. I should've been scared witless by what I heard about Ronin, any _normal_ person would be, but I wasn't. I guess it's just hard to be scared when you're with the person that matters the most to you in the world.

I woke and slipped into my uniform, just as I did every morning. When I went downstairs for breakfast, I was surprised to see that our intergalactic tenants had returned. Today they were studying the toaster burn a piece of bread to a crisp. Kish poked the lever, mistrusting of the toaster. Pai and Tart stood over Kish's shoulder, analyzing the toaster fearfully.

"What do you think would happen if I stuck my hand in there?" Kish pondered as he tentatively fingered the shiny edge of the toaster. I shook my head. For aliens, they were pretty stupid. I snatched the toaster out of Kish's thin fingers.

"Your stupid hand would be torched. But, hey, if you don't believe me, just go ahead and do it anyway. I could do with a good laugh." I said setting the toaster onto the counter. The three of them looked over at the toaster, which then sprung out the nearly combusted toast. They jumped back in horrified surprise, Kish yelping at the top of his lungs.

"That's what I thought…It's so shameful. You're supposed to be mighty warriors, yet you revere common kitchen appliances." I snickered as I grabbed an oatmeal bar out of the pantry.

Ryou sprinted into the kitchen with a panicked look on his face. "Komori! Are you okay? I thought I heard you scream!" Ryou interrogated.

I laughed and pointed to the cluster of still-shaken aliens. "No, that was those three bozos. The toaster scared them." I giggled as I strided out of the kitchen. It was good to see that Kiyoshi's spell had worn off; the lethargic, drunken Ryou was more frightening than funny.

I arrived at school at my usual ungodly hour.

_I doubt that even Takara will be here this early._

I was correct. Takara's presence was absent from her usual seat on the stairs, but it was replaced by someone else…Kiyoshi! My face lit up as I spotted him. I bolted over to him, the wind ferociously slapping my face. He looked up, his face grim and full of the fatigue that I had seen last night. My smile faded: something was wrong. I breathlessly took a seat next to him. He looked down at the ground vaguely, as if everything were a blurry dream. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but he didn't even bother to look up at me.

"Kiyoshi, what's bothering you?" I asked worriedly. He ran his fingers through his hair as he searched for words.

"This is going to upset you, Komori. Just let me start with that, okay?" Kiyoshi explained slowly, grasping my shoulders tightly. I nodded my head slowly, fearing for the worst.

"Okay, then. Don't say I didn't warn you. It involves Ronin, of course. It seems that Ronin has been doing a little research on you…your family…your friends…" he continued. I stared back in horror. Frightening images of what Ronin could be doing to my loved ones flashed through my mind. Chinese water-torture, medieval flails, and machine guns were a few of them.

Kiyoshi ran his fingers through his hair a second time. "Okay Komori…Well, Ronin…he—Ah…he…he got Takara. I wasn't able to catch him fast enough" Kiyoshi muttered as he put his hands over his face to hide his shame.

_NO!_

I shrieked and flung my hands to my mouth. Hot streams of tears poured down my face obscuring my vision. "She was my…my only friend!" I sobbed. By now a few people had started to arrive and were pointing fingers at us, probably thinking that we were breaking up or something stupid like that.

Kiyoshi's warm hand pulled me to him. He tilted his head down so he could easily whisper in my ear. "Komori. She's not dead, you goofball. He's using her as _live_ bait." He whispered comfortingly. I sniffled. That wasn't much better.

"Kiyoshi, we have to go save her!" I yelled, hopping up. Kiyoshi grabbed my wrist and sternly yanked me back.

"Calm down! And, yes. We're going right now." He hissed in my ear.

"B-but wait. Won't we be ditching?" I asked. Yeah. As if ditching school was my biggest problem right now. Kiyoshi seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"A minute ago you just wanted to save her, and now you're worried about ditching class!...Whatever, I've already had all that stuff taken care of. The attendance office doesn't have very good locks on their doors, you see." He winked. I admired his uncanny ability to make me smile in the darkest of times. I choked down my laugh and got serious.

"Okay, do you know where Ronin's headquarters are?" I asked, realizing we needed to know _where _we were going.

"I don't know the exact location, but I've been scouting out this one place that looks really--."

"Take me there!" I demanded.

Kiyoshi and I had flown for approximately twenty minutes to land in the ((excuse the expression)) ghetto part of Tokyo. We now sat at the front of a particularly dark and smelly alleyway that would put a garbage dump to shame. I couldn't see more than three feet into it, but I could see the rats darting to and fro, their luminescent eyes peering at me curiously.

_I'm getting severely creeped out._

"Do you see how it's unnaturally dark? Ronin makes it that way, but he does it to several different alleys and such all over, so it's nearly impossible to track him down…but if he's after you, then he should have made it fairly easy to find him." Kiyoshi explained. I would have been fascinated if I hadn't been scared stiff. He grasped my hand and smiled.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes." I said, still uncertain as I clutched my Passion Sword in my other hand.

We plunged into the artificial shroud of darkness. The rancid stench of decomposing garbage filled the air, making it impossible to take a single breath without getting nauseated.

_I think I'm gonna be sick…_

"Whoo!" Kiyoshi swatted the air around his head in a futile attempt to get some breathable air. I decided to ignore him and concentrate on the task at hand: find the entrance. I continued to walk down the alleyway with Kiyoshi right behind me. The dark hung over us like a heavy curtain of velvet; I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

"Allow me to be of assistance." Kiyoshi said as he took a flashlight out of the folds of his jacket. I gratefully accepted it and shined it down the alley.

I partly wished that I hadn't turned it on. I could now see all the vile creatures that inhabited the alley, who were now scurrying away from the light that they hadn't seen for so long. We continued our cautious walk down the alley, approaching a tall barrier of splintery wooden planks that had been perilously nailed together. Kiyoshi motioned for me to approach the barrier.

"This is it." Kiyoshi said, rubbing his hand over the grimy surface, looking for something that I couldn't see. A small click echoed through the alley, followed by the sound of tumblers rotating. Expecting a door of some sort to appear, I stood where I was. Kiyoshi, who seemed to know what he was doing, looked upwards. I followed his gaze to see a giant emerald-colored orb of energy slowly come over us. I latched myself onto Kiyoshi as I felt the portal's pull on both of us. We were thrown into a massive tunnel that looked to be made out of electricity that kept changing colors. Kiyoshi grasped me tighter as he sensed that we were landing. I felt a surge of pain ripple through my back as we were flung out of the tunnel and onto a slick marble floor. I rubbed my head and pushed myself up.

"Welcome, Komori. I've been expecting you." A dark voice hissed from the darkness.


	27. A Treason

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Treason, ****叛國罪**

The dark subsided slightly as some grey light trickled down from tiny lights at the sides of the giant chamber; there was no sign of the warm red glow of a fire. The sides of the endless chamber were bare and made of a cold alabaster stone, which had darkened over time to a dark grey. An eerie frost hung in the air, adding to the already-glacial ambience of the room. I shivered on the inside as the voice drew in a long breath; I could see the air from their breath coming from the deepest corner of the room where no light reached. Something in the corner stirred and I felt my heart race faster. I noticed that Kiyoshi's presence was frighteningly absent.

_Where did he go?_

A ghostly figure slithered from the darkness and slowly crept towards me confidently. It was a tall man with paper-white skin, long fingernails, blonde shoulder-length hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, blood red eyes with thin slits for the pupils, and an evil sneer playing across his face that showed all of his remarkably white teeth and unusually long canines. Everything about him was cold.

_This must be Ronin._

He casually sauntered toward me, analyzing me with his pure crimson eyes.

"I commend you for your excellent work, Sorrel." Ronin praised to someone that stood behind me. To my utter surprise, Sorrel stepped out of the shadows with a pleased smile on her face. She bowed to Ronin.

"Thank you, sire. I could never have done it if it weren't for this little Mew's utter gullibility." Sorrel said, ruffling my hair, taking in my expression of betrayal.

"W-where's Kiyoshi?" I demanded shakily. Sorrel and Ronin started cackling in unison.

"Don't you get it, you idiotic girl? This was a setup! Takara is safely at school and your beloved Kiyoshi has no idea where you are…he probably just thinks that you're sick!" Ronin gloated. I looked down shamefully.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

"And I must say that playing as Kiyoshi was way too easy." Sorrel laughed.

I gave her a look of utmost repulsion. "I thought you couldn't speak English?...And more importantly, I thought you were my friend!" I yelled at her. She immediately ceased laughing and leaned closer to me.

"Number One: I lied. And Number Two: I'm _nobody's_ friend. The only person I serve is Lord Ronin." She hissed, her breath cold. Ronin held up his pale hand.

"Enough! I have let you live for far too long, Mew. You have interrupted my plans for the last time!" Before I could even think, a cold punch flew into my cheek, sending me flying back into the frigid wall. I felt my cheek, finding it sensitive to the touch.

_I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow…hopefully._

Ronin furiously marched from his position in the middle of the room to where I laid. I scrambled to my feet and summoned my sword—but not soon enough. Ronin was on me before I could block him.

Punches and jabs came in a quick succession, not allowing me any time to get up, let alone get anything in with my sword. All I could do was sit in a crumpled heap, wincing in pain until it was all over. Until I couldn't take the pain any more and finally died.

"Come on, Komori! I was hoping for more of a fight from you!" Ronin taunted as he kept his incessant series of punches and jabs.

_I have to at least try…_

I mustered up the strength to lift my sword and hit Ronin on the back; no blood shed, I hadn't hit him near hard enough, but it was enough to distract him. I shoved him off and sprinted to the opposite side of the room. Sorrel had coolly walked to the edge of the room to watch the fight. Ronin grinned as he rubbed his back.

"That's more like it!" he ran towards me, forming a sphere of orange energy in his hand, hurling it at me like a curve ball. Not expecting to be bombarded by energy spheres, I was stupid and didn't duck. The sphere erupted in my abdomen, sending huge, unending pulses of pain through my midriff and lower chest. I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air and a reprieve from the fiery pain that burned all over my body.

_So this is what it feels like to die…_

I felt the familiar light-headedness and knew that I was going to lose consciousness if I tried to hit Ronin again.

"Feeling weak?" Ronin asked in mock pity as he approached me.

"I never…did anything to you!" I cried airily. Ronin's face contorted in anger; Ronin's foot jammed into my side and a deep ripple of pain spread to my side and torso.

"AHH!" I fell onto the floor, writhing in agony.

_So…this… is the end. It's funny how life seems so short now._

I smiled slightly despite the sharp, stabbing pain that rippled through every single nerve. I knew that all the pain would be completely gone in a few seconds. I squeezed my eyes together in anticipation for the final blow, but there wasn't one. A giant crash echoed through the empty chamber; I heard Ronin's gasps of horror and Sorrel's terrified footsteps running out of the chamber.

_What? What's going on?_ _Why are you running away?_

Ronin screamed in true terror. I heard a sickening ripping sound and hasty footsteps running out of the chamber after Sorrel.

_He…he got away…_

I felt slightly happier. I knew that since Ronin wasn't there, the pain would stop…at least for a while. But right now I had to deal with whatever it was that had scared away Ronin and Sorrel.

The crashing stopped and three sets of footsteps came closer to where I laid.

_Oh no. Please, give me more time to rest. I'm not ready to die yet._

"Please…" I thought aloud. The footsteps stopped in front of me, but I couldn't lift my head to see their faces. A gentle hand brushed the side of my face that had taken the first punch, but I barely felt the pain. I had almost gone completely numb.

"How bad is it?" a familiar voice asked worriedly.

"She's lost a lot of blood; we need to get her to the lab immediately." said another familiar voice.

Three sets of hands gently lifted me and laid me on what I thought was a stretcher. It felt like I was playing 'Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board'.

I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. A shroud of warm darkness swept over me as I finally lost all consciousness.


	28. A reaaaallly long Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Okey-dokey! It's high time for an 'official' Author's Note (It's long this time, guys…). I decided to point out a few interesting things about the story. I think I'll start with the names:

Kiyoshi means 'The Quiet One'. It just suited his personality so well, I couldn't resist (but I have to say that it did take me quite some time to train my fingers to type his name correctly, it was very frustrating: I'll occasionally bang the keyboard in my frustration…Sometimes I just want to murder my computer, I swear).

Ronin means 'Samurai Without a Master'. He acts out of spite and doesn't have any compassion, yet he fights with agility and has a commanding prescense. In my original draft, Kiyoshi was actually Ronin's master, but I decided that was too much like the original Tokyo Mew Mew and wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting.

Komori Hoshi means "Bat Star". It took me **FOREVER **to find the perfect name for my main character. I just like using symbolism so much, I even like to do it with the names. I'm one bored chick, I tell ya'.

Even though they're minor characters at this point in the story (keep your eyes peeled for them, though!), the Leiko Gang deserves mention. Leiko means 'Arrogant'. I automatically granted them their namesake, not bothering to look for any other option.

And Sorrel…well, she's just Sorrel because I said so. Her planet's green and leafy, so the name seemed more appropriate than my alternative, 'Ophelia'. Too much of a morbid reference for my liking.

Oh, I almost forgot! There's one more: Takara means 'A Treasure'. Loyal friends like her are not commonly found; they're rarer than any precious metals or gems that can be found anywhere.

Now then, I have to say that you'll have to be patient and wait until the final chapter to find out why the story's called _Held Loosely._ But lately I've been wishing that I had named it _Passion Fruit_; it would have made so much more sense. Oh well, what's done is done, I suppose. (But if you want to secretly call it _Passion Fruit_, I really wouldn't mind ((winks)) ).

And now that I read over what I've already posted, I just couldn't help but notice that my writing style's gotten better, and now the story flows more easily than it did in Chapter One, for instance. I'm also trying to loosen the undecipherable words I occasionally use. I just love to use new words; it's even more fun when it confuses people!

Anyways, thanks to **_EVERYONE_** who has read even a single chapter of my fanfiction. And thank you so very, very much for the comments! (Oh, Azzie-chan, I really am truly sorry for biting your head off. Please forgive me for being so rude to you)

I the next chapter's gonna be up some time this week, so until then, I suppose.

AutumnXMidnight.


	29. A Secret is Revealed

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Secret is Revealed,** **一個秘密被透露**

Pure white light filled my senses; it came from everywhere, not beginning or ending.

_Oh shit, it's 'the light'…So…Does that mean that I'm dead this time?... Well, god this really sucks._

A soft murmur of worried voices echoed about.

_Angels?_

A blurred face peered over at me curiously. "She's awake." the voice whispered.

_Hey, that must be God. Hm, well God, you're a lot younger than I thought you were supposed to be. I mean, what happened to the grey beard and all that? I think you've lost your touch._

Two other faces appeared next to God that had darker hair.

_Who the hell are those guys?...Maybe they're, like, those prophet guys or something. Gee, now I wish I'd gone to church more…_

A gentle hand brushed my cheek. "Komori. Komori, it's time to wake up. Can you hear me?" God's voice called, growing more and more worried.

"Yes, O heavenly Lord." I muttered, trying to impress God. Cool. I was talking to God. God tilted his head and stared at me even more curiously.

"Um, I think she's still out of it." one of the prophets said to God pointedly.

"What was your first clue?" God asked, slapping the prophet on the back of the head.

_God's a lot meaner than I thought he'd be…_

"God, why did you slap that prophet on the head? And when can I get my halo?" I asked God. God and the two prophets stared down at me in dumbfounded unison.

"God--?" one of the prophets asked in confused amazement.

"She thinks she's dead and that she's in heaven." the other prophet said. God grasped my hand and shook it, chuckling to himself.

"Komori. You're not in heaven--." God started.

"OH MY GOD! AM I IN THE OTHER PLACE? WHY? WHAT DID I--?" I screamed in horror. God sighed heavily.

"You're not in either place. You're still alive. You're in my lab." God tried to reason with me. My eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"So…you're not God?" I asked, starting to feel incredibly stupid.

"'Fraid not." God snickered.

"Oh, so then those guys aren't prophets, either?"

"Nope."

"Well, gee. I just feel really smart right now…"

_So, I'm not in heaven or hell…that isn't God…the other two aren't prophets…and I'm in a lab………OH MY GOD!_

Panic shot through me. I sprung up and tried to focus on 'God's' face. It was becoming clearer: now God had blue eyes and blonde hair…where had I seen that before?...oh dear.

I now focused on the two prophets: one I identified immediately as Kiyoshi. The other I found to be…Keiichiro! So 'God' really _had_ to be…Ryou.

_I am so severely dead._

Kiyoshi came to me and pressed me back into the bed that I now realized was there and wasn't just a big fluffy cloud in heaven. "You need to rest before you do anything else." Kiyoshi said in a scolding tone. I looked down to see which form I was in. It struck me that it didn't really matter: I was in deep trouble in either form. As I had thought, I was still in Mew form. But judging by how everyone was calling me by name, Ryou already knew everything.

"I'm so sorry, Ryou! I wanted to tell you, but I--!" I started. Ryou held up his hand and pressed me back down.

"We'll talk about all that later. Just worry about getting some rest for now." Ryou sighed. The fatigue in his voice made him seem four times his age. I nodded slowly, knowing that Ryou was going to murder me when I healed from all my injuries.

I must have fallen asleep for a while; when I woke, no one was to be seen in the lab, which I could see crystal clear now. A small twitter came from behind me; I turned to find Masha was sitting at the top of the bedpost.

"Hey, Masha. I haven't seen you for a while…What's up?" I whispered as I scratched Masha behind his fuzzy little ears.

"Twweeeeeep!" Masha crooned happily.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Someone in the corner of the room loudly cleared their voice to get my attention. I turned my concentration from Masha to Kiyoshi, who stepped to the side of my bed.

"Did you have a nice snooze?" he asked saccharinely.

"Yeah. It's really wonderful dreaming about all the horrible stuff that Ryou's going to do to me." I said dryly. Kiyoshi shrugged his shoulders.

"I doubt it's going to be that bad. Sure, he was furious when I first told him, but he's gotten over it. He's just glad that you're okay." Kiyoshi informed me.

"Ah, so it was you who told him." I accused sourly.

"Hey, I had to! He wasn't going to treat your injuries; just leave you there to rot."

I nodded slowly. "I guess I would have done it too if I were in your position." I grumbled.

"Atta, girl. Do you want to hear all of your injuries?" Kiyoshi asked pleasantly as if it were a normal everyday topic.

"Sure." I winced. Kiyoshi started to count on his fingers.

"Let's see…A total of five broken ribs, a black eye, a sprained wrist, and bruises covering every inch of your skin." Hm. No wonder it hurt so much.

"How's our little patient doing?" Keiichiro asked amiably as he strode into the room.

"Fine…I guess." I muttered guiltily. Keiichiro came to stand next to Kiyoshi.

"It'll all work out fine. Ryou's not _that_ angry any more." He said in an attempt to ease my guilt.

"Thanks, Keiichiro." I sighed, my morale falling a record low.

_How come everything in my life always ends miserably?_

"Ryou's not that _what_?" Ryou called as he calmly walked in.

"Oh, nothing." Keiichiro said innocently. Ryou rolled his eyes and took a seat at the edge of my bed.

"Okay, Komori. I'm not going to chew you out, I'm not going to yell at you, and I won't get mad at anything you say. I just want to know how all this happened." Ryou said a bit too calmly, trying to convince himself that he wouldn't get mad. I looked down and took a deep breath.

_I hope you like long stories…_

In an instant I spilled about everything that I had done: the transformation, my reclusiveness, all the battles (including all the excruciatingly painful details of the latest one). It must have taken at least two hours to tell the story and calm down Ryou, especially after I told him that I just walked into his lab. Kiyoshi had been listening intently, as if I were telling his whole life story. Keiichiro, however, was thoroughly shocked by every sentence, so to him it was like a horror film that always kept him on the edge of his seat.

When there weren't any stones left to turn, Ryou sat still, completely flabbergasted by the whole ordeal.

"Wow... I can't believe that I was so… _stupid_." He whispered to himself in disgust. I tried to scoot over to him to give some comfort, but my five broken ribs and skin covered in bruises halted my journey. Kiyoshi pushed me back down.

"Woah, there, Sparky. You're not completely healed." He laughed.

"HARK! Do I hear an injured Mew calling for assistance?" Kish's voice rang out of nowhere. Pai, Kish, and Tart materialized in the middle of the crowd that had begun to form around my bed.

"Hi Kish." I said lamely. Yeah, aliens make painful injuries a lot better.

Kish approached me carefully, looking me over like I was a squished bug.

"Dang, he beat you up pretty good, didn't he?" Kish exclaimed. Kiyoshi threw Kish a threatening stare; Kish returned it.

"Thanks for rubbing it in, Kish." I grumbled. Kish smiled impishly.

"You're very welcome…So, uh…you're planning on healing those injuries, right?" Kish questioned, throwing Kiyoshi another look.

"And how do you want us to go about that? I don't have anything that can heal, and I'm pretty certain that none of you three idiots can heal or you would've healed those burn injuries you sustained from the stove." Ryou stated. I saw Kish hide his gauze-swaddled hands behind his back.

_Good, he finally got burned._

"I actually beg to differ. I can heal, but not that well. I just refused to heal Kish because he had it coming……If you want to get her injuries healed quickly, I suggest you seek _his_ help." Pai said, motioning to Kiyoshi. Ryou stared at Kiyoshi in amazement.

"You can heal?" Ryou asked, shocked.

"That I can." Kiyoshi replied as he leaned towards me with his hands outstretched.

He placed his hands in the middle of my stomach, which sent little shocks of pain through my diaphragm. His hands glowed a ghostly white as they sent warm healing waves over me. The waves calmed down the pain, making it disappear completely. Kiyoshi took a deep breath and took his hands away. I pushed myself up and was able to stay that way without any prickles of discomfort. I flashed Kiyoshi my biggest smile; he looked slightly diminished, but he still tiredly returned the smile.

"Well I'll be…" Keiichiro whispered in awe. Ryou nodded his head in approval.

After the whole ordeal, I couldn't help but notice that Ryou seemed to like Kiyoshi a lot more than he used to.


	30. The Hunt

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Hunt,** **亨特**

Author's Note

Okay, this is an edited version. I took out a lot of the snow stuff because I was getting mad at people for saying that there probably wouldn't be that much snow in Tokyo. So to save myself from getting any more people ticked at me for biting their heads off, I just took out the snow stuff, as much as I wanted it in here.

Ryou had granted me permission to stay out of school for the rest of the week…okay, it was more of a _command_ to not go to school. I honestly felt one-hundred percent better after Kiyoshi healed me, but I guess Ryou was just being paranoid. Pai, Tart, and Kish had become regular tenants, residing in one of the obscure guest bedrooms on the uppermost floor. And to my delighted surprise, Kiyoshi had taken it upon himself to stay with me as much as he could, spending the nights often (in another room, of course).

November blew by like a whirlwind, and in came December, with its hurricane-like winds, soft creamy snow, and most importantly, Christmas.

_Do they even celebrate Christmas in Japan?_

It was a particularly frigid second Saturday of December. I was in my room, throwing on layers and layers of thick sweaters and scarves. I topped it all off with a gigantic jacket and a knitted cap on my head. I wanted to pretend that I was going out to do some normal, boring teenager thing, but I couldn't lie to myself: Kiyoshi and I were going out to track down the new entrance to Ronin's lair. On a day of twenty-one degrees Fahrenheit and icy snow covering every inch of the city. Yeah, that's completely normal. Kiyoshi's fist impatiently banged on the door from the hallway.

"Komori, it's not like you're going to a fashion show! Just pick something and put it on, for Christ's sake!"

I shook my head. Boys just don't understand the importance of looking good in public: in my case, it's not so much what other people think, it's how I think of myself; I judge myself too harshly sometimes……._OH MY GOD! NOOOO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I swore it would never happen, but I'm starting to like all that girly crap! NO!_

After strictly admonishing myself for another five minutes, Kiyoshi had mustered up the courage to barge in; thankfully I was fully dressed. Kiyoshi crossed his arms to his chest and shook his head. "Staring at yourself in the mirror, eh?" Kiyoshi said in a haha-I-caught-you tone. I sneered menacingly.

"Shut up." I snarled as I met up with him at the door.

Ryou and Keiichiro waited downstairs to grill us over anything that we could've forgotten. Ryou shoved a backpack into Kiyoshi's arms. "Be careful with all that: it's extremely fragile—expensive--electronic equipment." Ryou cautioned. Kiyoshi grinned sardonically ((that's my word of the day!)) and returned the backpack.

"We won't need any of this junk, it'll just slow us down." He said, waving his hand. Ryou twitched slightly when Kiyoshi said his beloved equipment was 'junk'. He sighed in resignment.

"Fine, have it your way. But at least take a map and mark all the suspicious spots you find." Ryou pouted gruffly, handing us an enormous map and a black marker.

"Will do. Come on, Komori, we'd better get started." Kiyoshi said, unexpectedly grabbing my waist and hauling me out the front door. As we walked into the chilly morning, I could have sworn I heard Ryou say something with the words 'son-in-law' in there. I was tempted to look back at Ryou, but the door had already slammed behind me, leaving me out in the Antarctic winds.

Going outside was like stepping into a cryogenic chamber; the wind came in its most ferocious form and, accompanied with the cold, was enough to stop a three-ton tank in its tracks. Kiyoshi's arm instinctively snared around my waist and pulled me closer to him as shelter from the cold. No doubt that Ryou was watching through the peephole in the front door.

_I wonder how he reacted to Kiyoshi grabbing me._

Oh well. There was no time to dwell on Ryou's overreactions: we had a mission.

"I guess we might as well start on this street." Kiyoshi mumbled as he held the map with his one free hand.

"We're going to look absolutely insane to everyone who sees us." I muttered pessimistically.

"Ah, now why do you say that?"

"We're going on a 'stroll' while it's two degrees out here!"

"Most people say that teens in love are crazy. It all works out. If anyone asks, we're a lovelorn couple out on an innocent stroll to admire the snowfall." Kiyoshi replied, not even looking up from the map. Half of what he said was true.

We waded through the mounds of snow that had collected on the sidewalk in silence as Kiyoshi looked for any suspicious areas, marking them on the map if he found anything. I felt like the epitome of uselessness, with nothing to do but admire the 'wonderful weather'. But the only wonderful thing about the weather was the snow. I noticed that it was a lot like the snow we got in New York: it was at its most beautiful when it first touched the ground, then turned to ugly grey slush after someone treaded upon it. We steadily were headed in the direction of the ((excuse me again)) ghetto area. Here the snow's beauty was polluted with the filth that littered the streets and alleyways. It seemed like no one even really lived in this part of town: All the windows were boarded up, ancient graffiti was splattered over the crumbling bricks of the buildings, and a mute hush covered the area. It was like being in one of those old-timey black-and-white shows. Kiyoshi's lips curved into an angry snarl. This was the same alleyway where the last entrance had been. His hold on my waist tightened as we continued down the alley, whose light source decreased the deeper in we went. Kiyoshi started slashing up the map like crazy, still clutching me to him as if I was a prize gem that everyone wanted to steal. Then again, considering where we were, it was a good bet that I would be snatched right from under his nose. The clear, bright, icy morning that I had grown accustomed to morphed into a dark, unforgiving vesper.

"Come on, Komori. We should get out of here now." Kiyoshi said hastily, sniffing the air and detecting something unseen to my eyes.


	31. Preparation

**Chapter Thirty: Preparation,** **筹备**

Just as a little warning, there's a little bit of …um, what do I call it? …Religious infringement for some people. Just so you know: Just because I make Komori agnostic, does not mean that I am.

**Ronin's Temporary Lair, ****暂时的兽穴**

Ronin shivered in disgust at the room that lay before him, which was less than satisfactory: it somehow had a metallic scent, the walls were barren and caked in suspicious-looking lichen, there was a small sliver of grey light that was able to trickle out from the ceiling, and the damp, humid air hung over like an ominous cloud that suffocated anything that tried to take a gulp of air.

But more than anything Ronin hated the unnatural warmth that filled the room. The hot, sticky, disgusting warmth. After becoming accustomed to the intense cold that had filled his previous headquarters, the warmth was completely unbearable. Ronin grimaced.

_How could I let her slip from right under me? Why did I run away from my own lair?... That girl has sentenced me to an unending torment. I'm going to make her wish she was never born!_

He clenched his paper-white fists in an effort to control his fury. Sorrel glided into the chamber with a gleeful smile on her face. Ronin immediately stood from his near-fetal position on the floor; he couldn't show any signs of weakness.

"I assume you have good news?" Ronin questioned, unable to control the spark of excitement that lit up his usually morbid tone.

"Indeed I do: Kiyoshi's coming this way…and he has _her_ with him." She sneered. Ronin pondered for a moment. He waved his hand lazily to dismiss the thought.

"I'm not feeling up to it. I'm still injured from being attacked by that infernal machine. Do whatever you wish." Ronin said, rubbing the wounds on his arms and legs. Sorrel simply nodded and strode out to track down her quarry.

Sorrel perched on the roof of an abandoned, decrepit old building. She took in a deep breath and tasted the air on the roof of her mouth, discovering Kiyoshi and Komori coming in her directions. Their footsteps crunched softly on the mushy sleet that filled the street. Sorrel steadily leaned farther over the edge to get a quick glimpse of them: Komori, looking like a frightened little puppy, clung to Kiyoshi as if her life depended on it; Kiyoshi held a folded piece of paper and Komori in his arms. He was being much more alert and cautious than Komori was. He tentatively tasted the air; a look of disgust dominated his face. Sorrel violently cursed herself for not disguising her scent. Kiyoshi swerved Komori around, sternly whispering something to her. Sorrel ground her teeth to prevent her scream of frustration.

_I _will_ get you next time._

**Back at the house…, ****回在议院…**

Ryou had combed over the map hundreds of thousands of times, scanning it on his computer, painstakingly researching each area at a time over a period of a week. A few more 'kitchen incidents' had happened with Kish, one involving a food processor; it had become normal to awaken to Kish's cries of pain. I decided that we really needed to lock up all the kitchen appliances.

Christmas fell on a Wednesday this year. It had come to my depressed attention that we didn't get out of school for Christmas, which absolutely **_SUCKED_**. In order to keep my American heritage (and my sanity) alive I still decided to get into the festive holiday spirit. While Keiichiro and Ryou were down in the lab analyzing the map as usual, I managed to obtain an arsenal of ancient Christmas decorations from the basement.

_It's better than nothing, I guess…_

While I was in the middle of unsuccessfully hammering a string of tinsel on the wall, a knock came at the door. _Kiyoshi!_ I stumbled down the small ladder that I had propped up against the wall, nearly falling flat on my face as I raced to the door to greet Kiyoshi.

I flung the door open, my hair frizzy and a near-insane smile on my face. Kiyoshi uncertainly stepped inside, eyeing what decorations I had managed to put up.

"Wow…" Kiyoshi breathed. I put a strand of loose hair behind my ear.

"Do you like it? I decided to decorate while Keiichiro and Ryou were preoccupied." I managed to say. The cold air had added a rosy tint to his cheeks, making him nearly irresistible. He smiled warmly.

"It's wonderful. But I think it might go a lot faster if you had someone to help you." Kiyoshi hinted.

"Does that mean you want to help?" I asked hopefully. He pretended to think it through.

"Weeeeell…… I guess so." he said merrily. Kiyoshi seemed to already be in the Christmas spirit. Kiyoshi took my previous position hanging up the tinsel.

"That's what I was working on!" I accused. Kiyoshi grinned mischievously.

"Yes, but now it's what I'm working on. Go put those stockings up or something." He retorted, returning to his hammering. I huffed angrily and commenced with putting up the stockings. I'd taken the liberty of getting a stocking for everyone: Keiichiro, Ryou, Kiyoshi, and, quite grudgingly, the aliens too. After I had somehow managed to tack the stockings onto the mantle above the unused fireplace, I turned to find Kiyoshi reclining on the couch, the tinsel already hung in a flawless line.

"Hey, how did you get it done so fast?" I asked in astonishment.

"Never underestimate me." Kiyoshi replied with a mischievous grin. I rolled my eyes and went over to sit by him to admire our work. The shimmering red and green tinsel reflected the small amount of light that came from the lamp near the couch, the stockings were hung in a semi-neat line, and a miniature Christmas tree that I had managed to drag up two flights of stairs that was embellished with cheapo lights and small dust-covered red bows was placed in the corner of the room. I felt like I was back home with mom… Mom. Why now, of all times, would I be missing the person who sentenced me to exile? For the first time a wave of homesickness crashed into me. Right now mom would be putting up the tree and making a big home cooked meal; alone for the first time. I shook my head in a futile attempt to clear her out of my mind. Mom was of no importance to me right now. Kiyoshi noticed my inner anguish and slid me closer to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, caressing my face in his hands. I gave him a crooked grin and gently pushed his hands from my face.

"Homesickness, I guess." I muttered, still aching to be back home. Kiyoshi smiled knowingly and pulled me to his chest in an effort at comforting me.

"Ah, that's a feeling I know well. You see--." Kiyoshi was interrupted by loud footsteps from the stairs. Keiichiro emerged from the stairway and took in the decorations with a look of pleasant surprise spread across his face. At least, until he spotted me and Kiyoshi, then his expression turned embarrassed.

_Uh-oh._

"Um, I'm not…_interrupting_ anything, am I?" Keiichiro asked nervously, unaware of Ryou entering directly behind him. Ryou's eyes flickered around the room quickly, ending on where Kiyoshi and I laid completely tangled up in each other. Ryou put both his hands up and said, "Whatever." He grabbed Keiichiro's collar and dragged him behind as he walked out of the room. Kiyoshi and I turned to stare at each other in boggled unison.

"Um, that was completely awkward." I broke the silence. Kiyoshi dipped his head down and stifled a chuckle.

"It's a good thing Ryou has grown fonder of me… Anyways, where was I? Oh yes. You wouldn't believe how celebrations differ on each planet! It's completely phenomenal... I see here you celebrate the birth of your 'savior', Christ, correct?" Kiyoshi said. I deliberated for a minute before responding.

"Not exactly. Not everyone believes the same thing. There are different religions, and in those religions are also separated sections of how you worship. I'm Agnostic; I'm not one-hundred percent sure that God exists, but I still like to celebrate Christmas." I stated. Kiyoshi's eyes burned with curiosity.

"That's pretty cool. On my planet we had something a little like your Christmas, except it celebrated the merry rule of our first king, many, many thousands of years ago. It's also considered our 'New Year's'. But I do find it funny how many of our decorations are the same: the tinsel, the tree (ours don't look anything like Earth trees, though), the lights, and most importantly, the presents." Kiyoshi's face flowed with pleasantness; he was probably reflecting his holidays past. I pressed my face back down into the crook of his neck; his hand lifted up to my neck and slowly trailed up and down. I managed to utter a string of words, "So…um….what do you want for Christmas?" I tried to be casual, but with the way he was touching me, it was becoming increasingly difficult. I heard a wispy chuckle come from him. He continued to stroke me gently.

"What do I want for Christmas?... It's a difficult question. What I really want…what I really want… Yes. What I really want for Christmas is you." Kiyoshi grinned. It was clichéd, but it was sweet. I blushed furiously, thankful to be buried in his shoulder.

"That's a song, you know." I grinned.

"Really? Is it that commonly said?" Kiyoshi questioned, amused. Was he getting closer? I could hear the steady huffing of his breath.

_Oh, temptation, how I loathe you._

He lifted my chin to his level. His raven locks hung loosely over his eyes, making him look even more like a supermodel, and twice as irresistible.

"Don't freak out this time, okay?" he whispered.

"Okay." I breathed. He tilted his head as he pressed his slightly parted lips to mine. His kiss was gentle, his lips soft and warm. I leaned in as he enthusiastically leaned a little too far, sending me on my back. One hand wrapped securely around my waist, while the other caressed my head.

And what a wonderful sense of timing Ryou had, walking back in to see us practically eating each other's faces. He yelled in horrified alarm and ran over to us.

_Oh…my…_

"Woah, there!" Ryou still yelled, pulling Kiyoshi off of me. Kiyoshi seemed utterly embarrassed. Ryou breathed in slowly, new to being a parent. I felt a small twinge of pity for him.

"Look, I'll pretend that didn't happen if you promise that I won't ever walk in on you two…doing… _that_! Especially on _my couch_, I mean, gross…" Ryou grumbled, walking back out. Shock was mutual between Kiyoshi and I. We stood where Ryou had left us for several minutes, unable to move. Kiyoshi broke the awkward silence, putting his face in his hands and taking a seat next to me on the couch.

"Oh…my god. That was completely mortifying." Kiyoshi grumbled.

"It was stupid, too. We were just kissing, I mean, what did he think we were doing?" I asked, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question. Kiyoshi laughed shakily.

"He knew we were kissing, just…um. Never mind."

"No, what?" I was growing impatient.

"He thought we were having--." Kiyoshi tried; I held up my hand to stop him.

"Okay, okay. I get it now."

Sometimes Ryou could be so stupid. He interrupted a perfectly semi-innocent kiss! I wanted to get my sword and bash him over the head, but I decided that he would be of use later; it would be pivotal to allow him to live a little longer. Unless he interrupted again…

Indeed, Ryou pretended that last night never happened, but now regarded Kiyoshi and I with a sharp, scrutinizing stare every time we were together. Christmas was this week: Wednesday. I had managed to track down gifts for Ryou, Keiichiro, and Takara, but it eluded me as to what to get Kiyoshi. "_All I want for Christmas is you._" Well, it would be pretty difficult to wrap myself up in a box. I didn't know what he liked to do in his spare time, besides fencing. But I guess Kiyoshi really doesn't have that much free time, with school, battling Ronin, and me.

On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, I went browsing all the shops with Takara as my official budget advisor. We were currently on an excursion on the inside of a quant little shop on the street near the Kiyoshi's lighthouse. The shop gave off a warm ambiance, like how you feel when you go to visit your Grandmother and she has a big cake baked especially for you. Curious trinkets filled the oak shelves; I had no idea where to start. Takara seemed quite disoriented as well.

"Where to begin?" she asked, motioning to the aisles and aisles of potential gifts. I shrugged and started to walk down the first aisle.

"I guess the beginning is always a nice place to start."

Many of the little trinkets looked incredibly breakable, and intimidated me each time I dared to touch one investigatively. They were freakish little things; they were deformed in the Picasso sort of way.

_There's no way I'm going to find Kiyoshi anything in here._

The first three aisles didn't help at all, but they did manage to frighten Takara and I. She grabbed the edge of my sleeve in fright.

"Komori, let's go! This place gives me the creeps: I feel like the little ceramic cats are staring at me!" she uttered in fright. I brushed off her hand.

"Just wait a little longer. I want to look just a while longer." I said, continuing down the aisle. Takara whimpered and halfheartedly followed behind me.

On the back row the items had gotten a bit more normal; but I did share Takara's feeling of being watched. Amongst the endless sea of bizarre staring ceramic cats, I saw it: the perfect gift. I excitedly picked it up from its place on the shelf. It was a small porcelain bat with a small white star painted on its chest. Its eyes were a deep, eerie emerald and its face fox-like. And best of all, it wasn't horribly distorted like all the other figures that collected dust on the shelf. I grinned: it was _perfect._

Takara, of course, had her doubts about the figurine, claiming that it came from a 'cursed shop'. She wouldn't shut up about it the whole walk home.

"Komori, I'm _telling_ you! That shop is _cursed_! Why do you think all those _things_ were _staring _at us?" Takara ranted. I raised my hand and violently slapped it over her mouth.

"I'm going to let go. And when I do, I don't want to hear any more of this 'cursed trinket shop' business. Got it?" I hissed angrily. Takara nodded her head. I lifted my hand and she didn't say another word.

"Good."


	32. Oomisoka

**Chapter Thirty-One: Oomisoka**

Author's Note:

Okay, I know it's a loooooong chappie, but you're going to miss a lot if you just skim-read through the whole thing for the sake of time. Enjoy!

When I got home I placed all of the neatly wrapped presents underneath the lower branches of the tree. Christmas was now complete. Now all there was to do was go to sleep and wait for tomorrow.

I awoke early that morning, still anticipating having to go to school. I bounded down the stairs, unable to wait to open presents. When I had jumped off the last stair, I found the whole household sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for me.

"Um, you guys weren't waiting for me, were you?" I asked, my cheeks burning red after expecting to be the first one awake.

"Yes, but not too long." Kiyoshi said patting the seat on the couch next to him; I gladly took the seat. Ryou cleared his throat as he slid down to the tree and started passing out the presents to everyone. It didn't take him long though; there was hardly anything to pass out. Kiyoshi's eyes widened curiously when his present was passed to him, as if he weren't expecting to get anything. I motioned to each of them anxiously.

"Go ahead and open up your presents, guys!" I said cheerfully. The aliens drilled into the one package that had been handed to the three of them, Ryou and Keiichiro tried to take a little more time opening it carefully to preserve the wrapping and ribbon, Kiyoshi caressed the tiny box for a moment before sliding off the ribbon and opening the paper only where the tape held it together, savoring opening it. Kish reached into the box, evilly glaring at me when he removed his hand from the box to present a pair of oven mitts.

_That should keep him from having any more run-ins with the kitchen appliances._

Ryou's pupils widened as he gazed upon a small memory stick that could hold three hundred gigabytes; he looked like he was on the verge of crying. Keiichiro smiled warmly as he held a framed portrait of him, Ryou, and the old Mew group (and I must say that it took **hours** of digging in the grimy attic to find a good picture). Kiyoshi chuckled softly as he peered down at the ceramic bat, looking up at me guiltily.

"I already got what I wanted for Christmas. You didn't have to get me anything." Kiyoshi grumbled, almost angrily. I sighed, exasperated.

"It would be awfully difficult to wrap myself up in a box, you see." I retorted. Kiyoshi snorted a laugh.

"I'm having strange images here." He said rubbing his temples.

Why did God have to punish me like this and send me to school? The limo drove slowly this morning; a sheet of black ice covered the road, foreshadowing a difficult and sluggish ride to school. A few puny slush drops drifted down and quickly melted on the windshield. _This royally **SUCKS**._ _I should've said I couldn't come to school for religious purposes or something to that effect._ Kiyoshi sat close and joined me in observing the slush drops flow through the air. His arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders and pulled me to him. He tousled my hair playfully, his eyes shining with the brightness and energy of a seven-year-old's.

"Hey, now, watch the hair!" I squealed. He shook his head.

"You get more like a girl every day, I swear." Kiyoshi stated, planting a small kiss on my forehead.

"Whatever."

"What? You are!"

"I know that! I don't like being reminded!"

Kiyoshi started a random fit of high pitched giggles, clutching his stomach to control the laughter. _Um…_

"Kiyoshi! What is your problem?" I demanded. _Aliens are so weird…_

"Whoo! Huh? Oh, sorry. I just got this image of you…pff- HAHAHAHAHA!" he tried to say, bursting out laughing yet again.

"Of me _what_?" I was beginning to get scared as the maniacal laughter still continued._ We're almost to school and I refuse to walk out of this car with him laughing like this._

"KIYOSHI! GET A GRIP!" I yelled as I grasped his collar and tried to shake some sense into him. He choked down more fits and regained his composure.

"Sorry. It's just this image of you. Hehehehe--."

"Kiyoshi." I warned.

"Heh, it's this image of you in this big frilly… pink dress." He uttered through strained laughter.

"Where the hell did that come from?" I asked, incredulous.

"I really have no idea." Kiyoshi murmured with the traces of laughter on his face disappearing. I just shook my head. Kiyoshi was the weirdest person I had ever met (besides Kish, that is). And I absolutely loved every second of his weirdness.

"Well, at least you got yourself together before we got to school." I muttered. The limo pulled to the curb directly in front of the steps where we usually sat at in the morning. "Let's get this over with…" I growled. Kiyoshi slid out of the car and held the door open for me.

"Oh, it's not so bad Komori." He said blithely as we took our seats on the concrete steps.

"Yeah, for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas." I grumbled.

**Ronin's Temporary Lair, ****暂时的兽穴**

Author's Note:

All that I have to say is: YAY! Evil love! So happy! ((twirls in her computer chair excitedly))

Ronin reclined back in his stone chair, trying to get comfortable. _That's almost impossible now._ He hadn't done anything much for the past few days: just moping around and wallowing in self pity. Sorrel hadn't made her prescense for a while; Ronin presumed that she'd abandoned him. _Fine, let that traitor leave. I don't need her anyways._ He fingered a loose strand of his light blonde hair. He knew he was falling to pieces. A high-pitched girlish giggle echoed through the dark hall. Ronin sat up instantly and smelled the air. _It smells like…roses. That scent, I know that scent…_

"My goodness, you've really let yourself go, pumpkin." The voice called warmly from the shadows. Ronin pushed himself up from his chair.

"Who's there?" he demanded. The giggle came again as a figure came from the shadows at the edge of the room. The woman that stood before him wore short-cut black leather shorts with a diamond studded belt which held a gun. Her shirt was as black as her shorts and it also was embellished with studs; she wore dark boots up to her knees. Ronin grinned so wide he thought his face would crack in two as he ran to the girl and caressed her honey-colored hair. He pressed his lips to her forehead and planted a kiss.

"Haha, I missed you too, sweetie." She cooed.

"Please, Yuri. Terms of endearment don't suit you well." Ronin said.

"Hmph. Like you're the one fit to give criticism! Look at you, Ronin! What happened to you?" Yuri questioned blandly, looking him over. Ronin sighed and pulled Yuri with him to his chair.

"I've lost everything. I'm just not in the mood for planning and plotting like I used to." He groaned. Yuri patted him on the back sympathetically and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Why don't I take it from here? Just for a while; until you feel better. I'll take care of that little brat that did this to you." Yuri whispered in Ronin's ear. He chuckled and pulled Yuri into a tight embrace.

"That would be nice, but I don't think my pride could take it: you doing my work for me. It just seems strange... and very ungentlemanly"

"Aw, come on! I'll take care of it _personally_." Yuri whispered encouragingly.

"……Fine, fine. But I have to warn you that she's... trickier than you'd think. She's got all sorts of backup. Oh, and she's with--." Ronin started. Yuri put a finger to his lips.

"I said I'll take care of it and that's just what I'll do." She breathed, leaning closer to kiss him. _We haven't kissed for… a while._ He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and brought her closer.

_You'd better watch out now, Komori. Yuri's back._

**Six Days Later, at School:** **六天以后，在学校**

It was the thirtieth; two days before New Year's. And evidently, people here get **VERY** excited about New Year's (I'm just glad it's the same date as America's). The school was abuzz with news about the annual New Year's Dance. Kiyoshi had asked me as soon as he had caught wind of it; I was thoroughly shocked that he actually wanted to _dance_ with me. After I told him yes he said: "Oh, and be sure not to wear too much black; this is New Year's, not a funeral."

Today Takara and I were going on a dress excursion. I brought her along because I had absolutely no experience with buying dresses. Luckily for me, Ryou had loaded me down with enough cash to buy the dress _store_. "Get yourself some clothes that aren't black," he had said. It was nice to know that money wasn't an option. We chose a small store located in the shopping area where the 'cursed trinket shop' was located. I had to threaten Takara with death a few times to shut her up about the 'dark curses she sensed emitting from the building'. _Takara needs to get a hobby._

The dress shop was well-lit and had a friendly atmosphere. Dresses of all shapes, sizes, and colours covered the entire shop.

"Wow. Where to start?" Takara asked.

"Let's look at the black dresses--!"

"Ah, ah, ah! No black!" Takara scolded.

"Urrrgh." I growled. Takara rolled her eyes, grabbed my hand, and led me to the first long aisle of dresses. _I wonder if this is going to end up like the trinket shop._ 'Cursed dress shop'…hm, it did have a nice ring to it, and it would certainly make a good conversation piece.

"Don't be such a spoil sport! Ooo, look at this one!" Takara squealed as she held a long flowy tunic dress.

"I fail to see the intense thrill in selecting dresses for a school function." I said blankly, watching Takara go down the aisle ooh-ing and ah-ing.

"Aw, come on. Just be girly this once!" Takara pleaded, pulling me farther down the aisle.

"Okay! Fine; I'll look, I'll look! Just stop trying to break off my arm!" I yelled, wrenching my arm back. _I guess I'll have to face it. I mean, I've got to get a dress._

"Hey, Komori! I have an idea: Go to the dressing rooms and _I'll _bring you dresses I think you'll like…that aren't black. It saves you the _embarrassment_." She said brightly.

"Sure, sounds good." I replied, walking to the dressing rooms in the back to wait for Takara to bring me the dress choices. Five minutes passed before Takara knocked on the door, slightly out of breath.

"Okay, I've got three right here. Oh, and I found one for me, too! It's really pretty!" she called to me as she tossed the dresses over the door to me.

"Hey, watch it!" I yelled after being bombarded with the gigantic dresses.

"Sorry," Takara yelled from the adjoining stall, "Hey, so you're going with Kiyoshi right?"

"Yeah. Who're you going with?" I yelled as I tried to see where the bottom was of the purple dress I was struggling into.

"Um, well…you know Botan, right?"

"Oh my God! _He's_ taking you?"

"Yes. Do you not like him?" she asked worriedly.

"No, no, no. He's really nice. It was just a shock." I replied, slipping the dress over my head. "UGH!" I screeched as the dress' bodice squeezed the life out of me.

"Oh, you're trying on the purple one, aren't you?" she asked, sounding entertained.

"However did you guess?" I pushed the dress up over my head and stared at it menacingly. "This is the dress from hell."

"Hahaha! Sorry, I thought it would fit you." She apologized.

"Next time ask me my dress size."

"I'll try to remember—Hey, try on the big red one; it looked promising!"

"'Kay." I retrieved a particularly fluffy dress from its landing place on the floor. Its sleeves were about three inches wide and delicately rested on my shoulders. Silver studs lined the top of the dress and on the waistline was a big mountain of velvet red cloth piled over itself to create a big pouf. Off of the pouf came down soft red mesh with sparkles sewn into it that nearly went down to the bottom of the dress, which touched the floor. _Not bad, not bad…_

"How does it fit?" Takara called over the wall.

"Pretty good: I think it's a keeper." I replied.

"Yay! You picked out a dress! I'm so proud of you!"

"Shut up. Let's see how you look in your dress." I said, walking out of the changing stall to stand in front of Takara's stall.

"Okay!" She opened the door in a rush and stood in front of me and gave me a little twirl. Her dress was simple, but still beautiful: It was a rich robin's egg blue and it went down a little farther than her knees. It was sleeveless, but it had come with slide-on arm covers; sort of like gloves without the fingers. Here eyes widened and she looked me over.

"Oh, Komori. You look so beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"You do, too, Takara! You'll have Botan chasing after you." I smiled; Takara blushed slightly at the mention of Botan.

"Kiyoshi's eyes are going to pop out of his head from looking at you too much." Takara giggled.

"Right, so let's pay for these things and then go shoe and accessory hunting." I planned.

"Now you're sounding like a girl." Takara teased.

The dresses hadn't been near as expensive as we thought they'd be, but I guess that's what we should have expected from walking into a place called 'Discount Dresses'. We ran into a store that looked like a Japanese version of _Claire's_ to get some necklaces, earrings, and gloves for me. We both got chokers to go with our outfit and I had managed to grab some silken red gloves that went almost all up my arm.

The shoes were a little more difficult to find, however. Takara needed some blue heels, which you would expect would be fairly commonly found. We found out the hard way that not many people carry blue heels. After finally stalking down a pair after going into about ten different shoe stores, we decided it was time to get home.

"Wait, Komori! Don't you need shoes?" Takara asked as we started walking towards home.

"Nah, my dress goes all the way down to the floor…I think I'll wear sneakers." I said thoughtfully.

"Sneakers? You really are a tomboy at heart." Takara said pleasantly.

"You know it," I smiled, "Here, gimme a high-five for completing our shopping!" We smacked our hands together triumphantly.

"We're really weird." Takara giggled, nearly skipping down the sidewalk. Her lighthearted attitude affected me, so soon I too was skipping down the sidewalk like a maniac next to Takara.

"What're we going to do about our hair?" Takara asked suddenly, out of breath from skipping all the way.

"Let's go to my house later and figure it out. Bring all the hair stuff you have. How does five-ish sound?"

"Um, Komori. It's four-thirty." Takara said pointing to my bat watch.

"Oh. Well, I guess you'll have to run, then." I laughed.

"How about this: let's stop by my house, pick up the stuff, then go over to your house to figure out whatever it is that we're going to do. I'll bring make-up, too." Takara said. We started to run to Takara's house, slowed by our giant sacks that held our dresses. When we reached her house, Takara told me to wait outside. Ten minutes later Takara came outside loaded down with a wicker basket that I presumed contained the make-up and hair stuff; she also carried a bag of cookies.

"What's with the cookies?" I asked curiously, taking the wicker basket from her.

"Mom thought we could do with a snack." She rolled her eyes.

"Yum."

We tried to take it slow to the house with our oversized loads. When we arrived I banged on the door with my free hand.

"Let us in!" I screamed to the door. The door clicked and swiftly swung open. Kiyoshi, who had opened the door, stood back from us in fear.

"Woah, what did you guys go shopping for? Elephants?" he asked, closing the door behind us.

"Ha ha. Look, tell Ryou we're going to be up in my room… Oh, and there's a strict 'No Boys' rule." I instructed.

"Yes, master! Whatever you say Master!" Kiyoshi said in a quite convincing Igor voice.

"Wait, where _is_ Ryou?" I asked.

"Down in his la—um, office." Kiyoshi replied with a shifty glance at Takara.

"Right. And where's the Family Nuisances?"

"Up in their room doing God knows what," Kiyoshi said walking out, "You two have fun playing dress-up." I shook my head and motioned for Takara to follow me upstairs.

"What's Kiyoshi doing here?" Takara asked, baffled.

"Oh, he's ….um, helping Ryou with something." I said off the top of my head.

"Interesting." Takara muttered.

Poor Takara; I had forgotten to tell her how long it took to get to my room. She was huffing and puffing as bad as the Big Bad Wolf by the time we came to my door.

"You must get a good workout from going to your room and back, huh?" she sighed.

"You have no idea."

Takara froze when she walked into my room and just stood in the middle of the room, staring in disbelief.

"Just so you know, I didn't pick the décor. It was like this when I came here." I explained.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Takara burst out laughing so hard I expected her to start rolling around on the floor. I grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to sit on the giant heart rug in the centre of the room. Takara wiped the tears from her face.

"Sorry, but it's just so different from what I imagined." She said.

"Okay, you've had your laughs, now it's time to get to work."

"Right," Takara said, suddenly serious, "First we need to decide whether we want an up-do or a down-do."

"A _what_?" I asked blankly. Takara sighed impatiently.

"If you want your hair up or down."

"Why not just wear it down and not do anything with it?" I asked, not understanding.

"Komori, the purpose of all of this is to look _pretty_," Takara explained, "Well, I think your hair would look good in an up-do. Hm, maybe a loose bun. Oh! I have this pretty orange flower clip that would look great in it!"

"Let's concentrate on _your_ hair." I said. The last thing I wanted was to have Takara picking around in the tangled mess of hair that I never bothered to take care of.

"Oh, I've already decided that I'm going to swear it down in a thin blue headband. Maybe I'll straighten it…not that I would really need to, I guess." _Dangit._

"Um, yeah, so a bun sounds great, I guess." I conceded.

"Let's see if it'll work in your hair!" Takara said excitedly, grabbing a pile of bobby pins and the flower clip.

I must say that having my hair done wasn't as bad as I thought. It ended up looking pretty good, too: Takara piled up all my hair on top of my head loosely and let a few strands hang down on my face. As the finishing touch she had clipped in the red-orange flower clip.

"Not bad at all." I complimented her as I stared at her work in a hand mirror. Takara sighed and stretched.

"We can do the make-up tomorrow before we go to the dance.." She yawned.

"Yeah, I'm bushed." I sighed.

**The New Year's Dance, ****新年的舞会**

Takara came over around seven to prepare for the dance. We were up in my room, already in our dresses, trying to get my hair up and apply make-up.

"Um, Takara…what's this 'pencil' for?" I asked nervously fingering an eyeliner pencil. Takara laughed and took it from my hand.

"It's eyeliner. I thought you'd know what it was, at least." She said, going at my eyes with the eyeliner.

"Ouch! Why would anyone want to wear this crap? It's painful to put on!" I squealed as Takara smeared on the eyeliner.

"Wow, it makes your eyes stand out really well." Takara breathed, standing back.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you ready to go?" I asked hastily.

"Yup. Ooh, I'm so nervous!" Takara said.

"Well, ready or not, here we go…"


	33. What a Feeling

**Chapter Thirty- Two: What a Feeling, ****好一感情**

**Ronin's Temporary Lair, ****暂时的兽穴**

Author's Note:

Wowsers! Thanks for all the reviews, guys! If you could help me out a bit, I would really like it if you told me which parts you liked and which parts still need some work. But you don't have to if ya' don't want to.

"Okay, hon. I'm going out." Yuri called to Ronin as she was about to walk out the large set of doors.

"Wait! Where are you going?...And what are you wearing?" Ronin asked, almost pleading. He didn't like to be alone anymore. Yuri waved her hand childishly.

"You do want that girl taken care of, right?"

"Yes, but I fail to see the point in wearing--."

"I'm not attacking today, silly! I'm just going to get background. To see what her personality is like. You know, all that good stuff. She's going to a dance tonight, so a big frilly dress is my cover." Yuri called as she walked out.

_I command millions of troops and rule many lands, but I don't think that I will _ever_ rule over or completely understand my dear Yuri._

**Takashima High School: Oomisoka Dance,** **Takashima ****中学，新年的舞会**

_Where's Kiyoshi?_ I had been standing at the front of the school, waiting for Kiyoshi for some time. _He must've gone back to the lighthouse to get ready, I guess…_

"Hey Komori!" Takara called not too far away. I turned to see her hooked arm-in-arm with Botan; Takara looked as happy as she had been yesterday skipping on the sidewalk.

"Oh, hey, you two! …Hm, I've never seen you so clean, Botan." I chuckled, running over to them as fast as I could in my gigantic dress. Takara looked around.

"Where's Kiyoshi?" she asked.

"I was wondering the exact same thing…I guess he's still at his li--um, house getting ready."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be here soon!" Takara said optimistically, dragging Botan towards the gym doors. _But how soon is 'soon'?_ By now I was the only loser still standing in front of the gym. Night had already set in and the chill that came with it rippled through my thick dress, sending shivers up my skin. _Kiyoshi! Where are you? Dangit, I don't want to go in without you, but I'm turning into an icicle out here!_

A deep swishing sound came from behind me; I turned in shock and found Kiyoshi standing there holding a corsage. A smile of relief washed over his face.

"I was afraid you went in without me." Kiyoshi breathed.

"Nope, I'd turn into an icicle just for you." I grinned.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long: it took me forever to pick out the right kind of flowers for you."

"Kiyoshi, you didn't have to get me flowers, I mean, good Lord. Would I really throw a fit if I didn't?" I blushed. It was really sweet of him to get me a corsage, though.

"Well, I did anyway." He smiled, fastening the corsage firmly on my wrist. It was beautiful: it was the same species as the purple flower Kiyoshi had shown me on our first date, but this one was a deep indigo with streaks of purple; a few sprigs of baby's breath poked out from the flower's bottom.

"_Pasiflora edulis._ Related to _Pasiflora incarnata._" Kiyoshi explained, twining his arm in mine. "Shall we?" he asked in a stately tone. "We Shall." I replied happily.

Yuri stood in the corner of the elaborately decorated gym silently brooding. _Where is the girl? I'm beginning to lose my patience._ Several boys had already asked her to dance, but she graciously refused them all. She had been keeping her eye on the entrance all night, but the girl had not walked in yet. _This is ridiculous, I feel like a complete fool._ When her patience had worn too thin and she was prepared to leave, she spotted the girl walking in with the one she knew as Kiyoshi. Yuri's lips curled into a knowing snarl as she approached closer. Time to get information on her prey.

Kiyoshi pulled me directly to the dance floor (lucky me, walking in right when a slow song comes on). I draped my hands behind his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. He pulled me to him and started to sway; I put my head on his shoulder as I tried to figure out what the song was.

_Here in the night, I see the sun, _

_Here in the dark, our two hearts are one, _

_It's out of our hands, we can't stop we have begun,_

_And love just took me by surprise._

_Looking through your eyes._

'Looking Through Your Eyes'. _Hm, what a pretty song…_Kiyoshi seemed to be enjoying himself. I was a little surprised that he knew Earth customs so well. _He has to do some sort of research of the planet before he comes to it or he'd stick out like a sore thumb._

"I just figured out where this song's from!" I whispered to him. He tilted his head. "Where?"

"_Quest for Camelot_. It's a cartoon movie. I didn't think they made a remake of this song." I said. Kiyoshi had a confused look on his face. _He probably only understood half of what I just said._

"Um, I've never seen that one. Is it good?" he asked, most likely for the sake of conversation.

"Well, yeah, if you're a little kid." I chuckled.

"I see." Kiyoshi laughed, pulling me closer.

_I see a night I wish could last forever  
I see a world we're meant to see together  
And it is so much more than I remember  
More than I remember  
More than I have known_

_And there are some things we don't know  
Sometimes a heart just needs to go  
And there is so much I'll remember  
Underneath the open sky with you forever_

The song finished with a last sad strum of a guitar. We pulled away from each other; Kiyoshi led me over to the refreshments table to talk with some of our buddies from the fencing team. Takara sat at the edge with Botan, chatting away with Haruko. A lonely-looking girl at the opposite side of the table was looking straight at Kiyoshi and I. I looked away, embarrassed. _I've never seen her before…She's probably new; maybe I should go say hi._ Kiyoshi was busy chatting away with Katabami about something; he wouldn't care if I went over there to talk with her for a minute. I strode to the end of the table where she stood in partial shadows. She looked genuinely shocked that I had come up to her; I guessed that she was shy like Takara.

"Hi, I'm Komori! I haven't seen you here before, are you new?" I asked as politely as I could. The look of surprise faded into a large smile.

"No, I've been here the entire school year. I suppose we do not have any classes together. But it is quite some dance, isn't it?" she replied quietly. _She talks funny._

"I'll say. Who're you with?" I asked, looking around. She giggled and held her hand up.

"My boyfriend's not feeling well, but he would've come with me otherwise." The girl said.

"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, that's because I didn't say it. It's Yuri." she glanced at her watch.

"Pretty. You know--." I started.

"Komori! Get over here, Botan just told me the stupidest thing that happened after practice yester…day." Kiyoshi came to me, then glared at Yuri.

"What are you doing here?" he asked rudely.

"Kiyoshi! Don't be so rude!" I scolded. Kiyoshi didn't seem to listen.

"Is Ronin so lazy that he's getting you to do his dirty work? That's so pathetic." Kiyoshi sneered. _She works for Ronin?_

"He is not feeling well, thank you for asking. I came in his place." Yuri growled.

"Sure, sure. Just get out of here; you're not welcome here. Ever." Kiyoshi boomed angrily, pointing to the door. Yuri turned on her heel and left without another look back. She paused as she reached the door.

"The war is far from over my dears."


	34. A Lesson in Love

**Chapter Thirty-Three: A Lesson in Love**

Author's Note, people:

Sorry that I've been 'remaking' all of my chapters; my computer's been messing something up, so just try to bear with me here. As for Ryou X _someone_…well, you're about to find out. ((winks)) (Yes, I've been planning it for a while)

Kiyoshi and I stood next to each other in silence as we watched Yuri swiftly leave.

"That's strange: I thought she would've stayed regardless of what I said. She's got to be planning something with Ronin. Got to be." Kiyoshi mused.

"I'm completely lost here." I said flatly.

"Yuri is Ronin's…girlfriend, you could say. I thought I got rid of her for good, too. She just keeps coming back. If you thought Ronin was bad _before_, just watch what he does when _she's_ around." Kiyoshi said solemnly.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Kiyoshi grabbed my hand and led me into the chilly night.

"She brings out the worst in him and is an inspiration for half of the horrible things he has already done… Komori, we're going to be putting in a lot of extra superhero hours." Kiyoshi sighed. I never had realized how much Kiyoshi worked to control Ronin and how much it took out of him. I pulled him into a tight hug.

"We'll find a way. I know we will." I whispered encouragingly. Kiyoshi's soft laughter tickled my ear.

"I love you." He cooed happily.

"Same here…Um, look, we should head home and tell Ryou about Yuri." I grabbed Kiyoshi's hand and led him to the sidewalk.

"Woah, this is going to be our only night off for a while, you know." Kiyoshi reasoned, pulling me to him. "And it's probably the only occasion that I'll get to see you wearing make-up." I laughed heartily.

"You're probably right."

"But you look so pretty when you do. You should wear it more often." Kiyoshi murmured, lightly stroking my collarbone. I brushed his hand away gently.

"You're making me feelawkward. Look, we _really_ have to tell Ryou about Yuri." I tried to reason with him. He hung his head down in defeat.

"Okay, fine. We'll have to hurry." Kiyoshi grumbled, snatching my hand and whisking me down the sidewalk without another word. We continued home in heavy silence; I could tell that Kiyoshi was angry with me. But why couldn't I make him understand that telling Ryou was more important than some silly school dance?

The yellow glow of the porch lights from the house was warm and welcoming from the nippy air outside. Kiyoshi was still refusing to look at me; I tried to get close to him, but he pushed me away. _He must be pretty mad…_ When we reached the door Kiyoshi flung it open and pushed it behind him, not bothering to hold it open for me like he usually did. _This is definitely not good._ I slowly reached for his hand and grasped it between my own.

"Kiyoshi, why're you mad at me?" I questioned, hoping for him to lift his head so I could see his expression.

"Go to Ryou; telling him about Yuri is more important than being with me!" He growled, stealing back his hand and storming up the stairs. _Oh no!_

"Please, Kiyoshi! I didn't mean it like that!" I called to him. It was no use, though; I might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Tears welled up in my eyes and began to flow freely down my cheeks, smearing the mascara Takara had applied to my eyes so carefully. My lip trembled slightly. _Our first fight…I hate this._ I pulled off my gloves and wiped away the black streak that ran down my face. _I might as well tell Ryou, or all this would have been for nothing._

"Ryou?" I called out feebly through the living room. A round of booming laughter came from the parlor. _Does he have guests over?_ I weakly pushed through the swinging doors to find Ryou, Keiichiro, Ichigo and Masaya, and four other women I vaguely recognized as the older Mew generation. The laughter ceased as all eyes rested on me. Ryou stood and swiftly came to me with a concerned expression.

"Komori? Are you okay?" he asked quietly. _I guess I didn't hide the tear-marks that well._ I forced a smile onto my face.

"Yes, I'm fine. But I have some pretty bad news concerning Ronin." I breathed.

"Right, right. Where's Kiyoshi?" Ryou asked worriedly. It took all the self-control I possessed not to fall onto the floor weeping.

"Oh, he's upstairs. He…wasn't feeling that good." I lied. Ryou put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"Okay. Here, just sit down and tell us what you found out." He said putting me into the squishy red armchair he had previously been sitting in. I sniffled slightly and took a deep breath.

"While we were at the dance, I went up to this girl and started talking with her; her name was Yuri. Then Kiyoshi sees me and comes up to her, being all rude. As it turns out, Yuri is Ronin's _girlfriend_ and was there to do something Ronin was supposed to do. I haven't figured that part out yet… But what really scared me was what she said before she left: '_The war is far from over…'_" I explained. Everyone just sat there for a second attempting to grasp everything that I had just crammed into that one semi-paragraph. The four other Mews sat there, completely baffled by everything; Keiichiro stared off into space; Ryou put his hand on his chin, a sign that he was thinking.

"Is this girl any threat to us?" Keiichiro asked.

"Kiyoshi said she was."

"Then we've got to put her up on the 'Wanted List' next to Ronin. Yay, more work to do." Keiichiro grimaced.

"We'll help, too!" the rather energetic blonde woman said. _Her name was…Pudding, right?_ I gave her a warm smile despite how cold I felt on the inside. Kiyoshi's words were still buzzing around in my head like an angry wasp, stinging me: _Telling him about Yuri is more important than being with me!_ I felt absolutely horrible.

"Yes, I want to help." The quiet green-haired woman said from the seat next to Pudding. _Lettuce._ Ichigo stood up and raised her hand in the air.

"YEAH! Mew mews together until the very end!" she hollered vigorously.

"What angel's voice beckons?" Kish's voice sounded out of nowhere, materializing directly in front of Ichigo.

"WAAHHH! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" Ichigo screamed as she throttled Kish with the lamp that had been sitting on the coffee table.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Cut it out!" Kish yelled back, blocking her blows. Pai and Tart appeared next to the fireplace with amused smiles.

"I find Kish getting beat with a lighting fixture quite refreshing." Pai grinned. I couldn't help but give a small laugh as Kish's expense. _What on earth did he do to her? …Never mind, I don't want to know._ Kish snatched the lamp from Ichigo and placed it back on the coffee table as he gave her a dirty look.

"I missed you too, sweetheart." He grumbled. Ryou clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Come on, guys! We have to focus on the problem at hand." Ryou yelled over the small pandemonium. _Might as well leave…_ I faked a tired yawn.

"Ooh, man, I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed and getting all this stuff off." I waved to Ryou and everyone and walked out without another word to cease their looks of bafflement. As I walked out the doors, I felt a soft hand clutch the top part of my arm. I turned and saw Ichigo smiling at me. She put her hands on my shoulders and steered me to a chair.

"Ichigo--?" Ichigo put her finger to my lips to quiet me.

"Okay, Komori. Tell me what happened." She said calmly.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"Tell me what happened between you and this Kiyoshi guy." Ichigo said. _Crap, she knows._

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only to a girl. Ryou's so oblivious, I swear. But that's men: ruthless, uncaring, and the compassion of a rock," Ichigo winked, "So let's hear it."

"Well, it's really my fault: It was right after I found out about Yuri. I told Kiyoshi that we had to leave right then and tell Ryou, but he wanted to stay at the dance. I convinced him to tell Ryou…but he took it to mean that I didn't want to be with him." I sniffled. Whoever said talking about your problems makes you feel _better_ should be dragged out into the street and shot. Repetitively. Ichigo thought for a moment.

"I don't think it's really anyone's fault; it was just a misunderstanding. He'll get over it." She smiled kindly.

"I'll apologize anyway."

"That would be best, I guess…Um, so how's the alien hunt been? Ryou already told us about your little 'incident' in his lab," Ichigo chuckled, "It's always good to have a new addition to the Mew family… I just wish I still had my powers; I sort of miss them."

"I was wondering about that: how are you guys going to help if you don't have your powers anymore?"

"Well, actually, Masaya's still got his powers (and I suspect he always will). Me and the others will help out Ryou with all that…scientific junk." She ruffled my loose bun slightly. _Masaya…_ I felt a surge of pity and sadness for Ryou: he wouldn't ever have a chance because of Masaya. I could tell he really did like Ichigo by how his face just lit up when she walked in, and how it darkened when Masaya followed in behind her. He would never have her. _Time to play as the _advocatus diabolis

"Do you really love Masaya?" I asked. I knew Ichigo would think that I would somehow relate this to my Kiyoshi problem. Her smile reached up to her eyes.

"Yes. Very, very much. Whenever he's around I get that feeling of security; that everything's going to be okay. I just want to be with him all the time. But I think that there's different ways people define 'love'. It's like there's different varieties of it." Ichigo gushed. _I can't just ask her if she likes Ryou…_ I simply nodded.

"Everything'll work out. Don't worry too much over it." She assured me.

I staggered up the stairs (courtesy of my floor-length dress), not bothering to turn on the lights. It was cool that all of the Mews were here and ready to help. I couldn't help but wish that they still had their powers so they could help me with Ronin. _But it's not fair to them; they've already conquered their alien problems._ Although they had had more advantages: There was more of them and the aliens weren't anywhere near as strong. _Stop complaining._ When I reached my room I felt a rush of relief to be away from all the bustle downstairs. I was also grateful that I could finally get out ofthe dress that had been squeezing my waist all night. I slipped into a long nightdress and pulled off the sneakers I had worn. _And no one even noticed. Now I see why they call them 'sneakers'._ I unclipped the flower from my hair and retrieved all the bobby pins from the bun. I flopped down on my bed and screamed my lungs out into my pillow. _I thought tonight was going to be perfect…_

The whispery sound of chimes jangling came to my parted balcony doors accompanied by a gentle zephyr. _I have got to learn to close that stupid balcony door._ I pushed myself up and went to close the doors. Through the see-through silken curtains I spotted a shadow leaning over the railing of the balcony. _Please be Kiyoshi. Please be Kiyoshi. Please be Kiyoshi._ Who else would be sitting on my balcony? I opened the door ajar and tiptoed out to the balcony. Kiyoshi was facing outward, away from me. His hair blew around slightly in the light breath of wind. "Kiyoshi?" I asked cautiously. His head turned to face me. He still wore the expression of controlled anger.

"What?" he grumbled, turning his back to me. I leaned over the stone railing next to him.

"I'm sorry." I looked over at him: his expression softened but he still continued to stare away. A few seconds of constrained silence engulfed us before I chose to lay it on a little thicker. "I didn't mean to make you upset…I just want to get this whole ordeal with Ronin over with as soon as I can. I was just being--."

"I know."

"Then why are you--?"

"I'm just having a spurt of anger. More at myself than you. Don't worry about it." Kiyoshi interrupted, turning back to me and finally smiling.

**Later, downstairs ****更迟，楼下**

A.N:

EEEE:-) ((Falls out of chair)) It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but it still worked out, I guess.

Ryou had assigned everyone to their own room (except for Ichigo and Masaya) and he now folded into his cushy red armchair. The hateful thoughts of Masaya and Ichigo being together swarmed through his head. He just wanted to kill Masaya. _He doesn't know how good he has it. He has no idea._ He longed to tell Ichigo how he felt. But what good would it do? She was already married to Masaya. _I just have to stop thinking about her and I'll be fine._ He knew it wasn't anywhere near that simple, but it was nice to cling to the thought for a while.

The quiet pat of bare feet came on the tile floor around the corner. _Hm?_ Ryou tensed up in his chair as the footsteps grew louder. Lettuce's head peeked around the corner.

"GAAH!" Ryou screamed in surprise. Lettuce giggled shyly.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Bah, you didn't surprise me." Ryou bluffed.

"Riiiiight." Lettuce grinned as she took a seat on the floor next to where Ryou sat.

"What're you doing up so late? You've traveled a pretty long way; you should get some rest." _I want to be alone right now._

"No. I'm not tired at all, actually." Lettuce replied. He could tell by the determined look on her face that nothing he could say would make her leave.

"Well…ahem, I guess I'd better get down to the lab to fix that…thing…" Ryou said awkwardly, getting up from his chair. Lettuce grabbed his hand before he could go farther.

"Please don't go; I really want some company and everyone else is asleep! And…I wanted to talk to you…" Lettuce begged. _What's her deal?_

"Um, okay. I guess the …thing can wait," Ryou said, sitting back down in his chair, "What do you want to talk about?"

**Later in the Upstairs Hallway,** **更迟在楼上走廊**

It was the middle of the night and I found myself having a **_BIG_** fruit craving. _I haven't had one of these in a while…Better go get an apple or something so I can go back to sleep._ I yawned and attempted to march downstairs without bumping into the wall. I reached the kitchen and attacked the fruit bowl when I saw a light coming from the parlor. _Who would be awake at this hour?_ Paranoia and curiosity claimed me and pushed me toward the door. No noise came from the room. _Ugh, Ryou must have left the light on. Moron; you'd think he'd learn to be energy efficient, being a genius and all…_ I decided to be nice and turn off the light for him so he wouldn't have to suffer a high electricity bill…then again; he was filthy rich, so it wouldn't have affected him that much anyway. I pushed open one of the doors to the parlor to find one of the most disgusting things my eyes had ever beheld. I withdrew my head slowly and as quietly as I could. I covered my mouth with both my hands and commenced in a silent scream of pure horror. _Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, OH MY GOD!_ I felt so completely filthy that I needed to take a shower. _I have been permanently scarred._

My mind had never really registered the fact that Ryou was in his low twenties and was still…'on the market' you could say. Seeing him with Lettuce was like seeing an old guy making out with a teenager; disturbing, scarring, wrong, and horrifying. I shuddered and headed back to my room. _I don't think I'll be getting any sleep after seeing _that_…_


	35. Misfortune and Waffle Irons

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Misfortune and Waffle Irons, ****不幸和蛋奶烘餅烤模**

A.N: Wowsers, no update for a while, yeah? Sorry, I've had tons of crap I needed to get done. I have to say that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Well, I guess that's it, so…Enjoy! AXM

Storm clouds blocked the sunlight from waking me…if I had been sleeping, of course. Every time I closed my eyes, the vision of Ryou and Lettuce…I had to bang my head on the wall repetitively to get that image out of my head. Why did I have such a bad sense of timing? I knew that it would be awkward when I went downstairs for breakfast and saw either Ryou or Lettuce. I couldn't chase away the reoccurring thought I kept having every time I saw the image: _Would me and Kiyoshi ever get that close? What if he has to leave to follow Ronin?_ The thought never came up, but now that it did, tears welled up in my eyes. I sniffed and wiped away the small line of salty liquid. If Ronin does leave, Kiyoshi would follow him…and I would be left alone again. I shook my head, took a soothing breath, and went downstairs for breakfast; not knowing if Ryou or Lettuce stood down there.

I tiptoed across the kitchen's tile floor and made myself a cold bowl of cereal. Kish sat at the table looking down curiously at Tart, who was hiding under the table.

"Um, should I ask?"

"He's hiding from Pudding. She won't leave him alone." Kish snickered as Tart shuddered at the mention of Pudding.

"TART! TART! WHERE ARE YOU?" Pudding called from the parlor. Tart balled up in the fetal position and trembled. I shook my head sadly.

"Be a good sport and say hello! What do you have to lose?" I nudged Tart with my foot. He glared up angrily.

"My air supply." Tart whispered. Pudding pushed open the kitchen door and looked around frantically.

"Have you guys seen Tart anywhere?" She asked, still looking around everywhere but under the table. Kish and I looked at each other and silently agreed to humour Tart a little longer.

"Nope." We both said in sync. ((Hahaha! 'In sync'! Haha…ha….okay I'll shut up now)) Pudding bit her lip and ran out of the kitchen continuing her cries. Tart clambered out from under the table with a look of relieved gratitude to us.

"Thanks." He breathed. Kish tapped his chin for a moment then smiled evilly.

"Heheh, now I have something to threaten you with!" Tart's eyes widened in horror.

"You wouldn't…" he squinted. I waved my hand and crunched down on another spoonful of stale cereal. Kish stared around the kitchen for a while and gave an evil smile when he saw the waffle iron lying farther down on the counter. He edged toward it and pressed the 'On' button. I hopped up and sped out of my chair.

"Where are you going?" Tart asked.

"I'd rather hear his scream than see him in the act." I called behind me, ignoring Tart's confused "Huh?".

"Five, four, three, two..." I counted.

"YAAAAHHHHHH!" Kish's cry of anguish came from the kitchen.

"One." I grinned. Nothing like someone else's expense to set off the day right. Kish's cries drew Ryou and Lettuce out of their rooms to come investigate. They stumbled in, their eyes wide.

"What on Earth is that?" Ryou breathed, his right arm ensnaring Lettuce's waist. Trying my best to ignore the unwanted snippets of memory that flashed through my head, I put on an entertained grin and pointed to the kitchen.

"Kish discovered the joys of playing with waffle irons."

Ryou's concern dropped from his face. "Oh." Lettuce grabbed him into a playful hug.

"Let's go check on him, just in case. I'm hungry anyways." Ryou nodded lovingly and pulled her along with him to the kitchen. I smacked myself in the head a few times to drive out the flashes of scarring memory. _Ugh… I need to focus on Ronin and Yuri, nothing else. Maybe I can get Kiyoshi to help me start looking for their lair. _He would have to; I didn't know how to look for it except that it was shrouded in darkness. And even if I did find one, it would probably end up being one of the fake lairs anyway. …Where was Kiyoshi anyway? _If I'm lucky maybe he's lurking out on the balcony again. If not, I guess I'll just have to… sit and wait._ I ran back up to my room, eagerly glancing at the balcony for any signs of a shadow skulking outside. I slumped down on my bed still analyzing the balcony, not seeing any signs of Kiyoshi. _Dang…and I was so ready, too…Maybe I'll just go out on the balcony and wait for him._ I pulled myself up with a grunt and flung open the doors to the balcony. The morning had a slight chill to it that was countered by the rising intensity of the ascending sun. Still, Kiyoshi's presence was missing from the stone banister I had seen him lean on so many times, turn to me, and flash me a brilliant grin…or more recently, a scowl. _I wonder if he's still mad at me…No, no, of course not; I already said I was sorry and he forgave me… No, he can't be mad at me._ …Somehow it still felt like it was my fault that he wasn't there waiting for me, no matter what I tried to tell myself.

"Who am I kidding? He's probably still mad; I know I would be if I were him." I whispered to myself.

"Look up here." Kiyoshi's voice came from the overhang above. I jumped onto its edge and towed myself up to Kiyoshi, who had his back turned to me.

"Whoo! Hey, I didn't know you came up here. How long have you been out here, anyways?" I asked, taking a seat next to him. He stared off blankly in the distance, pressing his mouth into a thin line.

"Kiyoshi?" He continued to stare ahead and refused to acknowledge my words. I placed my hand lightly on his shoulder; he brushed it away.

"I thought you weren't mad anymore." I said, more to myself than him. He finally looked at me: he wasn't smiling.

"It's just that…" he sighed, "You want to get out and beat Ronin quickly so you can have your regular life back. But what if you spend your _entire_ life trying and trying? You don't take time to stop and enjoy things as they are. Last night for example…"

He stopped himself and took back to staring the other way.

"Kiyoshi, please. You have to understand; we're just so close, I know it. I don't want to blow it all just because of some stupid school dance." I replied curtly. His brow furrowed and his face contorted with anger and frustration.

"It may not have been important to you, but I spent forever trying to make everything perfect! To you it might have been some 'stupid dance', but to me it was just one more night that I could spend with you and not have to worry about anything!" Kiyoshi bellowed and stood to look down on me with disgust.

"But I thought you said that you weren't mad at me!" I protested.

"And now I _am_." Kiyoshi's wings materialized and fluttered angrily as he approached closer to the edge.

"No, please don't leave!" I called after him.

"Why? ...Oh, right, I have to help you find Ronin and fight him. Heh, well have fun with that." Kiyoshi said before jumping off the roof and soaring away.

"Yes! You have to help! Come back! Kiyoshi…" I called pitifully. But it was just like that and he was gone, with nothing bringing me back to reality except the morning's chill and the sun's steady rise.


	36. Cold Knives and Telephones

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Cold Knives and Telephones, ****冷的刀子和电话**

You know what I just realized? The story's coming to a close! So, yeah, it should be wrapped up before it hits forty chapters (hopefully). And then it's on to try to find another fanfiction to write…Which is really gonna suck.

AXM.

**Downstairs, ****楼下**

Keiichiro sat in the red armchair with his nose pressed anxiously inside a thick novel. _Oh no! What if Tiffany is lying about her affair with Miles? And what about Trisha's baby? Who's the father? I knew Roberto was lying to her!_

Keiichiro's nose sunk deeper into the pages. A shrill ring came from the phone and Keiichiro nearly jumped out of his skin. He huffed angrily and shut his book while going to retrieve the shrieking phone. He picked it up hastily.

"WHAT?" he called into the phone. A small, tentative voice spoke.

"Um, hi. Is Ryou there? This is his aunt, Mabel."

"Oh…Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll go get him…"

**Roof, ****屋顶**

A miniscule clap of thunder sounded in the distance from the purple bruised clouds. A cold breeze picked up and drove the clouds over the sun. I shivered, but not for the chill. I _wonder if Kiyoshi is bipolar…Oh, come on, Komori; this is serious!_ Another voice popped up.

_He said to do it on your own, why don't you do it? Beat Ronin and then rub Kiyoshi's nose in it._

_No, I couldn't. I couldn't beat him last time. I'll just sit here and wait for Kiyoshi to--_

_Go on! You're stronger now, you can beat him easily!_

_Well, I don't know…_

_Just do it!_

_I…guess I might be able to land a few more punches, but…_

_Come on! Yuri said he's injured! It'll be SO easy!_

_Well…okay. Yeah! I'll beat Ronin!_

I was mildly concerned that I had just had a conversation with myself.

**Downstairs, ****楼下**

Keiichiro handed Ryou the phone. "It's Mabel."

Ryou nodded and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Ryou. You sound so much older than the last time I spoke to you."

Ryou chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"How have things been going around the house? Has Komori been doing well in school?" She sounded unsure of what to say.

"Well, things have been a little hectic, but it's nothing that I can't handle." Ryou grinned.

"Is she enjoying herself?" her voice cracked midsentence.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm just so worried about her. I mean, she's thousands of miles away from home, I haven't seen her in months and…and…" Mabel sniffled.

"And…?" Ryou asked expectantly. She wasn't really one to start crying without provocation. Missing Komori wasn't a big enough reason to make her cry.

"…Yesterday I got a call from Kin."

"Who?" Ryou asked dumbly. Her sobs came harder; she tried to lessen them by taking a breath.

"K-Komori's……father." she sobbed.

_Uh-oh._

**Somewhere in the Tokyo Skies, ****某地在天空**

Up here in the clouds the rain had started to come down hard and fast. _Damn, it's cold._

No, wait, it wasn't _rain_, it was _hail_. Hail coming down on me and striking me so fast it felt like thousands of blunt knives cutting into me. _I've gotta get out of these stupid clouds._ Hark, the reason airplane pilots don't like flying into clouds. _I gotta get lower or I'll be turned into a Mew-icicle. _

I flapped my frost-coated wings and took Kiyoshi's patented Divebomb of Death into practice. The fast-flowing wind carried the hail faster into my face, and bombarded my entire body with its cold knives. As soon as I saw that I was out of the cloud I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now to find the lair…" I muttered to myself.

**Back at the House, ****回在议院**

Ryou's mind was a complete blank. Komori's father, his uncle, had just appeared from nowhere. The one Komori refused to speak of. He was back.

"Do you want me to get her so you can talk to her?" Ryou offered. What else was there to say?

"Please." She said weakly.

"Okay, hold on for a while." Ryou sat the phone down and ran upstairs to get Komori.

A tiny snicker came from behind the couch. Kish was crawling toward the phone on his hands and knees, as if hunting it like an animal. He picked it up and looked it over.

"Shiny…" Kish breathed. Her voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello? Komori?"

Kish sniffed the phone suspiciously.

"THIS-IS-KISH! IS THIS SOME SORT OF PRIMITIVE HUMAN COMMUNICATION DEVICE? CAN YOU HEAR ME? HELLO?" Kish screamed into the phone.

"Who the devil--?"

"Oh, wow! It really works!" Kish exclaimed.

"Who is this?" A voice demanded.

"THIS IS KISH."

"Where is Komori?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?"

"Who _are_ you?" the voice asked again, incredulously.

"THIS IS KISH."

"Are you one of Ryou's friends?"

"HUH? OH, NO, I HATE RYOU. THIS IS KISH."

**Upstairs, ****楼下**

"Komori! Komori! Hey, Komori!" Ryou called all over the upstairs area. _Where is she?_

Ryou came into her room and noticed that the balcony doors where flapping around in the fierce wind and letting in tons of water onto the pink carpet.

Ryou realized with horror that Komori was nowhere near home.

**Tokyo's Abandoned Alleys, ****被放弃小巷**

After seeing the snow in the alleys, I had thought that they could get much dirtier. I was wrong: the cold rain soaked into the filth and spread it farther down the alley. The stench didn't help much to improve my opinion either: the mixture of all the degrading material in the roads mixed with the scent of rain was almost too much.

"Where to start?"

**Ronin's Temporary Lair, ****暂时的兽穴**

Ronin rubbed his head. "How…Why did you leave without a fight? You should've been more adamant that you were a normal girl, at the very least." Ronin growled at Yuri. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"I didn't think that watching her would do me any good. How she acts around her friends won't reveal a thing about her planning strategy." Yuri yawned.

"I don't care! I want to know as much as I can about that stupid girl!" Ronin bellowed.

"Don't pop a vein. Calm down."

Ronin sat down and silently fumed. "Don't worry, she's not smart enough to figure out how to find us, anyways. I told you, the portal's in a different spot this time." Yuri grinned. She liked it when Ronin got flustered like this.

"Right. And what if she _does_ manage to find us? We're completely unprepared…" Ronin worried.

"God, you're so paranoid," Yuri giggled, "You now, I think you might need to start lifting weights again. You're getting puny."

He glared at Yuri. "I hate you."

**Tokyo's Abandoned Alleys, ****被放弃小巷**

_Damn, it's cold._

That was my only thought for the two hours I searched the network of darkened alleys, unable to find any traces of Ronin and Yuri. My bravado was wearing off as the cold seeped into me (give me a break, I'm wearing a skirt). _This is so stupid. I should have known they would have changed where they're staying. Damn, it's cold. I guess I'll just leave. Maybe I'll go over to the lighthouse and see if Kiyoshi's there. Damn, it's cold._

I flapped my wings a few times to get the feeling back in them. _God, this was such a stupid waste of time! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Damn, it's cold!_ I stomped my foot on the dirty puddle that was the alley. "ARGH!" I stomped harder to get out all my frustration. A series of small clicks sounded from under my foot; I stopped stomping and stared at the ground in amazement.

_You have got to be kidding me…Damn, it's cold._

**Back at the House, ****回在议院**

Ryou was in a panic. Where was Komori? How long had she been there? Was she in trouble? …What was he going to tell her mother?

Ryou trotted back down the stairs nearly hyperventilating. Kish stood with the phone on his shoulder, casually talking to whoever was listening, probably Mabel.

"AND THEN I DEFEATED THE MONSTER WITH A SINGLE SWIPE OF MY MIGHTY SWORD. WE FEASTED THAT NIGHT!"

Ryou bonked Kish on the head and wrestled the phone out of his hands. "Give me that! Hello?"

"Ryou?" Mabel sounded tired.

"Yes, I'm back. Sorry, that was Kish--."

"Yeah, I think I got that part."

"He's not right in the head, you see. I'm keeping a log on his behavior for an article I'm writing. Did he keep you too long?"

"Oh no, he was telling me lovely stories about his 'home planet'."

"Ah, yes. Well, Komori's off…you know…goofing around at the mall. Sorry, I forgot." Ryou laughed nervously. He seriously doubted that Mabel was going to fall for it. She took a minute to think it over.

"…Right. Well, when she gets back tell her to call me; it's really important." Mabel sighed. It was good to see that Kish had worn her out so much that she didn't even have enough energy to cry.

"I will."


	37. Holes and Horrors

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Holes and Horrors**

Sorry, I didn't have time to put up the Japanese characters. Oh, and there was a few problems I had to fix with the chappie, so yes, this is the second time I've put it up. Sorry for the confusion.

**Tokyo Alleys**

I lifted up my foot in wonder. _This has got to be a trick…they wouldn't be dumb enough to do this…no way._

**Temporary Lair**

"Yuri, are you sure you hid it well?" Ronin asked anxiously. He had a tingling feeling in his spine that something was going to happen, and he knew he wasn't quite ready for a full-fledged fight yet. Then again, the girl hadn't been much of a challenge. It was her friends he needed to keep an eye on…Yuri waved her hand lazily.

"Yes, yes, yes! She'll spend so much time hunting those alleys, she won't even think to look in the road." Ronin's heart jumped.

"Wait, you hid the entrance in the **_road_**?" he repeated with disbelief.

"Uh-huh." Yuri said brightly, somewhat condescendingly. Ronin put his face in his hands. "In… the road." He repeated slowly.

**Tokyo Alleys**

A gaping black hole stood amid the wastewater-filled street. It was maybe three feet wide and ominous sucking sounds came from the hole's open mouth. The slight wind it breathed out was colder than the knives of hail that were swiftly landing on the ground. _Would they really…?_ Although I had been taught not to talk to strangers, I couldn't remember being taught not to leap into randomly hidden never ending voids. Or if luck was with me, it wouldn't be never ending. _Only one way to find where it leads to…_I took in a gulp of air and held my breath as if preparing to dive into water. I shut my eyes, and with a single hop, I was flying down the darkness of the tunnel.

**Back at the House**

Ryou paced the perimeter of the parlor anxiously. He ran his hands through his sheet of short blonde hair and sighed.

"What am I going to tell Mabel if she doesn't come back?" he whined. Kish sat on the couch with his hands placed neatly on his lap, unperturbed by Komori's absence.

"Say that she got kidnapped by an evil mastermind plotting to take over the world and bent on killing her. See what she says." Ryou glared at Kish.

"Maybe I really should write an article on you." Ryou grumbled. Kish grunted.

"Why don't you just go look for her?" Kish suggested blankly.

"Look?"

"Yeah, 'look', you know, using your eyes to find something. '_Look_'." Kish clarified.

"And just where do you suggest I look for her, Mr. Know-All?"

"Why don't you go ask that one guy?"

"What 'one guy'?"

"That…um….Kiyoshi! Yeah, that's the kid's name, Kiyoshi."

"Oh, of course! You know, Kish, sometimes you have good ideas." Ryou exclaimed, heading for the door.

"I know." Kish grinned, leaning farther into his seat. Ryou snatched Kish's hand and pulled him out the door.

"Hey!"

_Damn, it's colder._

It was cold, so unbearably cold in the tunnel. The darkness kept me from being able to see anything, if there was even anything to see. If it weren't for the elevator feeling in my stomach and the blistering wind, I wouldn't have even been able to tell that I was falling. _If I'm right, this will lead me straight to Ronin. He'll be so off-guard…It's almost not fair. _

_Not fair…_ The words pounded in my chest in the darkness. _But he's done so much to me! The last thing I should be giving him is my pity!_

It's amazing how much self-loathing two little words can invoke.

**Lighthouse**

Kiyoshi sat on the rusting roof of the decrepit lighthouse he called home. The hail and rain drenched his hair to where it stuck like a curtain over his pure green eyes. He didn't bother to brush it off; he tilted his head back and welcomed the cold streams of water and ice on his face. _The rain here is so beautiful…So calm……I'd sure like to see Komori in this rain…_

"Argh!" Kiyoshi smacked himself in the face. _Do NOT think of her!_

Easier said than done. _Stupid, selfish, self-absorbed girl…_

Two figures darted through the rain to the lighthouse; they barely registered in Kiyoshi's mind. One was pulling the other by the arm and yelling something; the second looked like all they wanted was to go home. _I know the feeling…_

They ran to the door and tried to shove it open. "Hey!" Kiyoshi yelled in surprise. He leapt off the roof and landed right behind the two figures. They whipped around and gave a yelp of fright. Kiyoshi was close enough to see that it was Ryou and Kish…the reason why they were trying to break in completely beyond him. Kiyoshi put his hands over their mouths that were still caught in a scream and shoved them inside. He shut the door and shook the rain out of his hair. Kish and Ryou had calmed down slightly and took seats on the dusty sofa. Ryou fidgeted and his eyes darted around nervously; he was as edgy as a person that had just had four cups of espresso. ((Ya' happy, Ferocia?)) Kiyoshi crossed his arms to his chest and strolled over to Ryou and Kish.

"So," he questioned impatiently, "What happened to make you two twits desperate enough to break into my house?"

"It's Komori," Ryou blabbed, "Mabel called and she wanted her, so I went to find her but I couldn't, and then Kish took over the phone, so I had to hit him, then he said to ask you about her, so here we are." Kiyoshi replied by staring at Ryou in dumbfounded silence. _Does he expect me to understand any of that?_ Ryou opened his mouth to speak again, but Kish mercifully covered his mouth.

"_Komori ran away_." Kish stated, enunciating each syllable. Kiyoshi's arms fell to his sides.

"Ran…away…?" He seemed calm, but on the inside his thoughts and emotions were in turmoil. _She ran away?_ _Why would she...? Oh…It must've been our fight. Damn!_

"Uh, Kiyoshi? Yoo-hoo?" Kish waved his hand around Kiyoshi's face to wake him up. "…_You have to understand; we're just so close, I know it. I don't want to blow it all just because of some stupid school dance."_ Komori's words came back to him, as fresh as if they had just poured from her lips. Kiyoshi realized with a growing sense of horror where she was.

"I think I know where she went."

**Temporary Lair**

The dimmed candlelight in the lair flickered as a short zephyr creeped in. Ronin lay in bed as he pulled Yuri to him in a snug embrace. He loved everything about her: her smile, her smell, her hair…

The wind stopped, yet still continued to cause the candles to flicker. Ronin sat up and watched the candles for a while. He nudged Yuri's arm.

"Yuri, the candles…" Ronin whispered. She joined him in gazing at the dancing flames.

"That's an omen." Yuri whispered back.

"Good or bad?" He asked. Yuri wasn't listening; she continued to gaze at the fires.

"What are you…?" Ronin began, turning around.

The flames rose to great heights, flooding even the gloomiest corner of the room with their joyous dance.

"What the--?"

The fire merged into one single blazing form in the air. Ronin clutched Yuri to him as he gawked at the shape the churning flames made: the form of a bat with its wings outspread.

"Bad." Yuri muttered.

I woke with a start. I was still freefalling through the tunnel; I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. "How long was I asleep for?" I asked, directing the question at no one in particular. Not like there was anyone else near here. _Oh crud, what if it doesn't lead to Ronin's hideout?_ Panic struck every limb on my body and made it rigid with fear. _But…what if it doesn't lead to Ronin? What if it leads somewhere else?_ My heart began to race as I realized that this might actually be a never ending tunnel. _Mom should've told me not to jump into these things…_

I felt my stomach return to me, a sign that I could possibly be landing soon. _I'll finally get out of this stupid tunnel._ And sure enough, the tunnel gradually grew brighter until I could see my hand in front of my face again. _Please be the right place, please be the right place…_

I sensed my feet slipping through the end of the tunnel; I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed my judgment was better than I gave it credit for.

**Tokyo Streets**

"Kiyoshi! It's insane out here! Just give up; we won't be able to find her in this weather!" Ryou shouted to Kiyoshi through the chilling showers of ice and rain. Kiyoshi trudged on, ignoring Ryou. "I'm going to find her." he grunted. "Even if it kills me." he added on in a whisper.

Kiyoshi led Kish and Ryou towards the place that he had thought looked suspicious the last time he had visited Ronin's Alleys (what he and Komori had nicknamed it). The ache in his heart widened with each step he took without having Komori's warmth by his side. _I have to find her._

They plodded down the alleys, the weather not helping them out of their melancholy mood. "I'm not going to miss her. Let's just say we tried and go home." Kish whimpered. Kiyoshi turned around and landed a sharp jab on Kish's chin. Kiyoshi's face had a look more frightening than the storm that they were stuck in. "Don't you DARE say another word like that!" He turned on his heel and continued down the alley, desperately running his hands over the walls, seeming to beg for some sign that Komori was okay. He turned more desperate as each place he searched turned out to be just a brick or just concrete.

"That-is-IT!" Kish screamed. "I've spent _hours_ searching for a stupid girl that I could care less about! I'm not moving another inch!" Kish flung himself on the ground with his arms crossed like a pouting toddler.

The ground clicked and whirred, and before their eyes, Kish was swallowed up so quickly he hadn't had time to scream. "I think we've found where she went." Kiyoshi smirked, half at Kish's expense, half at the hope of finding Komori.

"In…there?" Ryou stood aghast.

"Yup." Kiyoshi leapt into the hole, yanking a protesting Ryou in behind him. _Please let me be right._

"Damn, it's cold in here!" Kiyoshi heard Ryou curse, falling closely behind him. They had been falling for what seemed like hours…or minutes; in the dark they had no sense of time.

"This is taking too long…" Kiyoshi thought aloud.

"Nothing we can do about it. Jumping into a hole like this…stupid…" Ryou echoed. _Actually, there is something we can do._ "Bottoms up." Kiyoshi flapped his wings a few times to propel him up just enough o catch Ryou by the leg. "Woah!"

"This'll make us go faster." Kiyoshi tilted down and continued to fall while flapping his wings to make them faster. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Ryou muttered.

_I'm so sorry Komori._

**Ronin's Lair**

I fell on a cold granite floor with a painful crash. I remained in a heap for a minute to wait for the aching to subside. I pushed myself up, having second thoughts about coming here at all. I tilted my head up and took in the gloomy room: There were four tall, crumbling walls, hardly any light, and worst of all, no exits, not even through the way that I had come. _Doesn't really seem like Ronin's style. Then again, he has always liked depressing rooms._ I used the unsteady wall to help me to my feet. I scratched my furry bat ears and looked up again. Nothing but damp stone. _You'd think there'd be something…_ I sighed and flopped down into one of the moss-coated corners to brainstorm. I banged my head against the wall a few times in an attempt to get my thoughts flowing; small pieces of the wall started to chip off. _Amazing what brainstorming can do._ I faced the wall and pressed on one of the weaker sections. It crumbled at my very touch, but not enough to make a hole through the wall. "Urgh." My eyes drifted around for something, anything that could be used to break it down. They finally rested upon the hilt of my sword. _Duh._ I unsheathed the sword and inspected its gleaming surface as if it were a long lost childhood toy. I pulled the sword behind me and swung it at the wall just like I had learned in softball. The wall bowed down to the force of the sword's blow and tumbled down in a flurry of dust. I lowered the sword back in its sheath while coughing and drubbing the dust out of my eyes.

"WAH!"

"Be quiet."

"We're going too fast, Kiyoshi! Slow down!"

"We're nearly there."

**Ronin's Lair**

Ronin sniffed the air; something was different about it. Dirtier, somehow. He shook Yuri awake.

"Wah?" she grumbled.

"Smell the air. It's dustier." Ronin hopped out of bed and looked around suspiciously.

"I'll call a maid if you'll just shut up and go back to sleep." Yuri burrowed farther into the covers.

"She's here."

"Great."

"Come on! I want to have the upper hand this time." Ronin growled hastily.

"Okay, fine. I'm up." Yuri forced herself out of bed.

"Set the traps."

I stepped out of the rubble and through my new doorway. I stared down a lonely stone hallway that I couldn't see even two feet into. _Of course. There had to be a creepy hallway._ "Nothing to do but to go straight."

"Ugh." I'd been walking for about an hour. I was now slowed down to a lame trudge. "That's it." I half-fell onto the floor in a tired heap. _I'll take a little bat nap and then it's right on back to work._

_Ow, it's itchy…Why is it so itchy? It hurts…_ A terrible painful itching sensation spread up my neck. "What the--?" I reached up to my neck to feel a damp, furry ball that had whiskers and a tail about as thick as my index finger. The itching ache spread down to my legs and waist.

"**RATS!" **I squealed, jumping up and shaking the vermin off. It was then that I realized that the one on my neck clung onto the fleshy part of my neck with its horrible incisors. "GET OFF!" I pried the creature's teeth from my neck, sending out trickles of blood from the gap the rat had made. It scurried off after its brethren after I had flung it on the floor in disgust. I felt the wound again and the heated liquid escaping under my fingers. "Vampire vermin. That's a new one on me." I grumbled, wincing with pain. _Stupid rats. Now I'm bound to get AIDS or whatever the hell it is that they carry around from crawling in sewers._ I decided then that it would be wise to keep moving. I was already scarred enough and all I wanted now was to be back in my Pepto Bismol- colored room, snug and warm in the blankets, far away from any danger.

"Nearly there my ass." Ryou complained.

"Shut up." Kiyoshi mumbled. They could hear Kish utter something unintelligible ahead of them. A small beam of light could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

"Toldja."

They stumbled out of the tunnel in a whirlwind of flails and hectic screams. "OOF!" They found themselves in an uncomfortable dogpile on the chilled floor. "Get off of me!" Kish yelled. They awkwardly shuffled to their feet and Kish coughed nervously.

"She was here." Kiyoshi whispered in awe, pacing to the demolished section of wall. "Where _are_ we?" he heard Kish ask. He chose not to answer.


	38. Griffins and Cellphones

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Griffins and Cellphones**

Augh, the writing might have to wait a little while, guys. My migraines have been coming back and the computer just amplifies them. Have to go back to the doctor for stronger medicine…So yeah, that could be why some sections of this chapter might sound sort of strange. I forgot to mention: The last chapter was confusing because the upload system wouldn't let me put up the scene changes; sorry 'bout that. I'm gonna go take a nap now…((falls asleep in computer chair))

**Labrynth**

The only sound down the corridor was the melodic clacking my heels made against the moist floor. Walking. Walking, walking, walking for an eternity. Clack, clack, clack. A very faint emerald glimmer about five feet away. "WOAH!" My foot slipped on a damp pool on the floor; I landed face-first in the puddle. I put my hand up to my nose to smell the liquid: it had a dusty scent and its consistency was just slightly thicker than water and it was as cold as ice. _Please be water, please be water…_ I reached for my bat watch, hoping its shine would be bright enough to double as a flashlight. I shone what little light the watch provided to the puddle I was immersed in. The fluid was a brilliant ruby red, a color I'd become too accustomed to. I threw myself against the wall with my hand over my mouth to cover my shriek of disgust. _Blood…_ The green glow was fairly close now. _I've got to get out of here!_ Staring down at myself I could see that I was covered in blood. Someone _else's_ blood. "Augh!" I put my hand down to push myself up, and shrieked as I felt something furry and sticky against my fingertips. I swung my light over what I was touching with dread; I was less than a foot from the faint glowing. There right beside me laid a massive creature with wings as brilliant as the sun, even down here where the world knew nothing of the sun's warmth. Its mighty paws lay limp at its sides and its eyes were shut tight, as if its last moments were spent in severe pain. It had to be the most fantastic creature I'd ever laid eyes on: it was both fowl and lion, and most certainly not of Earth. I stroked its bronze plumage with pity. Pity for the creature's suffering, and pity for my having found it in this state, cold and dead. The body was still slightly warm, which meant that it couldn't have died too long ago. I felt a tear well up at the thought that this creature would never witness the beams of the sun again. Around its neck hung a thick copper chain with a green orb attached to it, which was the source for the faint glowing. "What's this?" I removed the chain from its graceful neck with a wave of guilt. But I also felt as if I were doing something right as well. The orb gleamed a brilliant emerald as I held it loosely in my palm and pulsed along in rhythm with my heartbeat. I let go of it in surprise and let it fall to the ground with a resonating clank. Its dull glow came back and stopped pulsating. I retrieved the orb and it immediately began to race along with the rapid dancing of my heart. I had the feeling that I should put it back around the beast's neck, but the more selfish, ironic side of me made me clench the chain tight in my hand. With a last longing look at the dead creature, I sprinted off, the orb clutched securely between my fingers, pulsing with its emerald glow.

**Labrynth**

"I can't see anything."

"OW! That was my foot!"

"Sorry…"

"Be quiet, the both of you."

"We've been walking for ever. I think we're on a wild goose chase."

"I know she was here: I can smell her scent." There was a long silence.

"…You…" Ryou started.

"I have a keener sense of smell than you--."

"Then what do I smell like?"

"Shi--."

"Quiet!...I think I heard something…"

"You're just paranoid."

"No! I really heard something… It was skittering…like rats…"

"You're scared of rats? Sissy…"

"Am not!"

"Sissy, sissy, sissyyyy."

"Stop! I am not!"

"Shh! I see something ahead."

"How? I don't see anything…"

"Like I said earlier…I…I smell blood…" Kiyoshi's voice rose in alarm.

"Oh goody." Kiyoshi picked up the pace and started sprinting down the corridor. "Hey! Wait for us!"

"Eww, I just stepped in something…It's cold…and wet…" Kish whimpered. Kiyoshi got down and put some of the liquid on his finger to smell it. "It's blood, but it's not Komori's. This creature must've died just a few hours ago…"

"What creature?"

"The one you're nearly standing on. Let me take a closer look at it…" Kiyoshi sat at the creature's side and ran his hands over its magnificent plumage. He shook his head sorrowfully. "It's a griffin. Looks like it got stabbed or bitten by something…I smell Komori's scent on his feathers." Ryou came to stand by Kiyoshi.

"Do you think she killed it?"

"No, she wouldn't have been able to. This is a huge gash; it was made by something much bigger than her puny sword. I just hope that whatever did this hasn't found her yet…" Kiyoshi's voice trailed off.

"Ugh, enough moping: Let's find her and get out of this crypt!" Kish yelled impatiently.

**At the House**

No one except Pai and Tart were in the parlor: they were inspecting the television like it was a ferocious lion. The phone rang, which nearly made them jump out of their skins. They crawled over to the phone and picked it up suspiciously.

"What is this thing?" Tart asked in amazement, looking over the phone's shiny surface.

"Hello?" A woman's voice asked from the phone. Tart dropped the phone in surprise. "It-it TALKS!" Tart screamed in delighted amazement. Pai picked up the phone and put it to his ear.

"Who is this? Is Komori there? Please! It's very urgent! Where is Ryou?" The voice went off.

"Oh, I think Komori got kidnapped or something, so Ryou went off to look for her before her mother calls for her again. Nothing out of the ordinary. Say, you're quite a chattery machine. What do you do, exactly?" Pai said, inspecting the phone curiously.

"K-k-kidnapped?" The voice asked shakily.

"Something of that sort. He dragged Kish along with him. I'm not sure if he's coming back…Oh well, more food for us."

"_Kidnapped…_"

"Are you okay? Do you need a new battery?" Pai heard a slam, followed by a monotone beep. He shrugged. "Batteries must've died."

**Lair**

Ronin slid his newly-sharpened saber into its sheath as Yuri tied up her delicate chestnut hair into a high ponytail. He grinned slightly and walked over to her. "Hey beautiful." He whispered, wrapping his arms around her hips. She blushed and swatted his arm playfully. "Now, now, we're supposed to be getting ready to fight." Yuri giggled.

"Oh, I sent Carden to take care of our intruders." Ronin nuzzled her neck. She turned to him. "Who?"

"The tengu."

"Oh, yes, that thing…It he gets rid of them, then why are we bothering to get ready?" Ronin flashed his menacing smile.

"I don't think he'll really beat them. I'm actually half-hoping that they'll kill him, just so I can be rid of the creature. He'll weaken them, at the least."

"You're so evil." Yuri chuckled, leaning in to kiss him.

"I know." He said, closing his lips around hers.

**Labrynth**

The orb's light grew with each heartbeat until it shone so brightly that I almost needed to shield my eyes from it. I could see every crack and crevice among the wall, all the putrid creatures that called this place home who were running from the light, and the damp clusters of moss that clung tightly to the wall. My steps made a louder echo, a good sign that another corridor was coming up.

**Labrynth**

"I _know_ I heard something."

"Keep walking and the rats won't bother you."

"It didn't sound like a rat."

"Sissy…"

"AM NOT!"

"Shut up or I'll feed both of you to whatever it is that Ryou keeps hearing!"

**Labrynth**

"…NOT!" A voice echoed from behind me some distance. "The hell?" I turned and held up the orb, but still couldn't see the source of the voice. Mumbling followed the shout and soon after, a frightened shriek. _Keep going, keep going…_A whirl of screams, shouts, and slaps sounded out. Whatever was being attacked, it wasn't going without a fight. For a moment I'd hoped the creature had awakened from its sleep of death, but I knew it was impossible. _Back from the dead. Right._ The brawl grew louder and the screams more desperate. _I know this is probably going to be a mistake, but I've got to see what's going on!_ I tossed the chain over my head and started to sprint towards the chaos.

**Labrynth**

"I heard something!"

"Will you just shut up, already?"

"No, I heard something too…We're being followed." Kiyoshi whispered. A gurgling chuckle came from the shadows behind them. "Like taking candy from a baby." The deep voice giggled darkly.

"I should've known. I see Ronin still kept you around, Carden. Gotten over that wound I gave you yet?" Kiyoshi teased. A pair of yellow eyes opened in front of them, two shining suns amid the darkness.

"Kiyoshi, it's not smart to tease creepy disembodied voices coming from the dark." Ryou whimpered.

"I wasn't counting on killing you, but your flesh will make a lovely appetizer for when I eat that Mew girl for my dinner." Carden said, stealthily creeping closer.

"Where is she?" Kiyoshi demanded, his voice wavering.

"Somewhere farther down this maze." Carden sounded as if he were licking his lips.

"Who are you?" Kish asked, cringing behind Kiyoshi and Ryou.

"Carden the tengu. Now excuse me, I have to kill you now." Carden growled, leaping onto them. Immediate chaos followed: Kish tried firing thunder at him, Ryou futilely slapped Carden wherever he could, Kiyoshi tried to land a few hits with his sword. A sickening crack and a scream of agony from Kish rang out. Kish got very quiet. Completely quiet. Kiyoshi threw himself on Carden, who was trying to take a bite out of Kish.

**Labrynth**

_God, what's happening?_ I was probably ten yards away from the snafu; I could faintly see several figures fighting one larger one, but they were just grey blobs, nothing more. "Take this, you bastard!" One yelled out. My mind raced: where had I heard that voice before? The larger figure shrieked and flew back against the wall, becoming silent. "Hey, there's a light…" one figure pointed out to the other, which ignored him and knelt beside something lying on the ground. I willed myself to run faster after recognizing the one voice: Ryou. "Jesus, turn out the light!" Ryou grumbled. "Ryou!" I called out, being close enough to catch the shining of his blonde hair in the emerald light. The second figure stood and looked around excitedly. "Kiyoshi!" I cried, running to him. He pulled me into a snug hug and kissed my head. "Oh Komori…" he sighed, bringing me into a quick kiss. _I guess he's not mad anymore…_ "Okay, lovebirds, break it up." Ryou came and pulled us apart. He winced at the orb's glow. "Where'd you get that thing?" _Off a dead creature._ I knew that wasn't going to cut it. "Oh, I just found it lying around." Ryou just nodded.

"We've got a pretty big problem…The tengu banged up Kish pretty bad…" Kiyoshi said, kneeling down to Kish. It was obvious that he had at least both his arms broken. He had a bloody nose and was stained head to foot in blood. Kiyoshi put his ear to Kish's chest to look for a trace of life; he smiled slightly and came back up. "He's breathing, but it's really labored. If we don't get him out of here he might die." He murmured. I found myself wishing that this was a big joke, that Kish would stand right up and laugh at us saying, "Ha ha! I fooled you!". He did no such thing. "I think I can heal him to where he can walk, but he really needs medical attention." I slumped down next to Kiyoshi and gave him a sideways hug. "Are you all right?" I asked, looking up at him. He grinned, "Yeah. I'm more worried about you, though. You look like hell…No offense."

"Just heal Kish." I narrowed my eyes.

"Aye-aye, cap'n." Kiyoshi placed his hands lightly on Kish's torso and took in a deep breath. A lily-white aura poured from Kiyoshi's palms and crept over Kish's body, knitting his bones and sewing together his scratches. Kish was soon completely bathed in the untainted light, looking as healthy as he did the last time I had seen him. The soft white glare faded, making way for the green light of the orb. We were all hunched over expectantly, hoping for Kish to awaken. His eyelids fluttered slightly and slowly, painfully slowly, his eyes opened. He stared from face to face, grinning when he saw mine. "Nice to see the whole group is here." He mumbled.

"Good to have you back." I smiled. Kish pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked back at Carden, who was still against the wall, either unconscious or dead. "I think we should keep moving." He whispered. "That would be best." Ryou agreed.

"Can you walk?" I asked Kish, grateful that he had awakened. He struggled to his feet and wobbled slightly. "Ungh. Barely." He grunted. Kiyoshi and Ryou helped steady him. "Okay, I'm fine now. You should've seen your faces! You were all white as ghosts!" Kish chuckled. Kiyoshi, Ryou, and I each smiled wryly. Kish would always be Kish, injured or not. "_Beep! Beep! Beep!_"

"What the--?" Ryou reached into his pocket and pulled out his ringing cellphone with a visage of mystification. "Heh. Well whaddya know…" he mumbled, reaching for the 'call' button. "Surprised I get signal…Verizon does some pretty amazing stuff nowadays…"

"Uh…Hello?"

"RYOU! WHERE'S KOMORI? IS SHE SAFE? SOME MANIAC ANSWERED THE PHONE AT THE HOUSE AND SAID SHE WAS KIDNAPPED AND THAT YOU HAD GONE TO GET HER AND NOW I'M FREAKING OUT! **_WHERE IS SHE?_**" Mabel frenziedly shouted into the phone.

"What? No, no, no! She's right here!" Ryou replied.

"REALLY? LET ME TALK TO HER!" Mabel shouted, not quite calmed down yet. Ryou pulled the phone from his ear and handed it to me with a weird smirk. "It's your mother." He whispered, stifling a convulsive giggle.

"What?" Mom was the last thing I needed to have heaped up on my to-do list.

"Oh Komori! I was so worried!"

"Fascinating." _Come on, just say 'I love you, 'Bye'._

"Honey, I have some pretty big news…" I could hear Mom start to sniffle.

"You're pregnant?"

"What? NO! No…Um. Well, you know about your father…" She struggled to find words.

"Yeah." Behind us we could hear Carden begin to fidget slightly, an unfortunate sign that he was about to wake up and our nightmare would begin again. "Komori, we have an issue…" Kiyoshi muttered as he jammed his thumb at Carden.

"Earlier today I got a call from him. He's in town…and he wants to see you." Mom sighed.

"You know, that's really great Mom, but you caught me at a _really_ bad time--."

"Komori! This is your _father_! You haven't seen him since you were five!" Carden shook his head slightly; I knew we had one minute. Tops. _Troubled teen time…_

"Yeah? Well when I see him I'm sure he'll have an interesting explanation as to why he left us to fend for ourselves for the past eleven years! Goodbye!" I jammed my thumb on the 'end call' button. "You could've been a little gentler…" Ryou grumbled. "Too late." I replied, grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him behind me. "Hey!" He tugged back and freed himself from my grip. "Come on! We've gotta get out of here before he comes to…" I started walking; no one followed. "KOMORI! WAIT!" Kiyoshi yelled after me.

"What are you guys so--?" The ground I treaded on was now dangerously unstable and little pieces started to chip off underneath me. "Uh-oh." In a heartbeat I felt my feet slip through the floor and the sick feeling of freefalling.

"KOMORI!"


	39. The Chalice of Life

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Chalice of Life**

**BIG FAT CLUE** for the reason for the title in the last chapter!

AXM

"WAH!" _Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…_ Kiyoshi's face that had been looking down where I had fallen had been gulped up by the darkness; now below me there was a sliver of fiery light coming through a crack in the floor I knew I was about to crash onto. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that I wouldn't kamikaze crash onto stone.

CRASH!

I had to jinx it. My feet crumpled under me and I slammed onto a chilled stone floor face first. _I just need to start carrying around a parachute…_ Scratches skidded across my arms and legs; God knows what my face looked like. I forced myself up to a sitting position and grimaced at the shocking stab of pain in my side. The crack in the floor widened and a flame of light flared up. It took a second to realize that I was going to fall through the steadily crumbling stone. _No, no, no, no! Close back up! Oh please! _I couldn't run: all I could do was wait to fall yet again, hopefully onto something softer. The stone continued to crack and crumble like the embers of a fire. _I hate rocks._ I slipped through the dissipating floor and into the fiery light.

**Lair**

Ronin cradled Yuri in his arms and gently cooed something in her ear. He was completely laden with weapons: his saber tucked snugly into its sheath at his waist, daggers were tucked up his sleeves and strapped on his arms, and a pair of switchblade gauntlets on his thin hands. "I think you overdid it a little," Yuri snickered, "The gauntlets are a little overkill…"

Ronin chuckled and thrust his fist up triumphantly. "They're not _just_ gauntlets." He replied; a short blade swung out of the gauntlet and sharply glistened silver. A thin coat of a viscous liquid covered the knife's keen edge. "Bleeding Heart toxin." Ronin grinned.

"What? So I'm not going to fight her?"

"What do you mean?

"It looks like you don't really need my help…"

"Ha! Don't worry: I'll need your special… _talents_ to ensure her death is a slow one."

**Labrynth**

"Holy shit!" Ryou shouted as he looked down the crumbling section of floor that had swallowed up Komori just a few seconds ago. Kiyoshi leaned over slightly, his mouth agape. "She really isn't the brightest crayon in the box, is she?" Kish giggled.

"Come on!" Kiyoshi snatched Kish by the arm and tried to drag him into the void. Behind them there was a quiet shuffle and a grunt. "I'll not be beaten so easily." Carden growled. "Not _again_…" Kiyoshi complained under his breath. Kish whimpered slightly and shrunk back from Carden.

**Lair**

The ceiling began to crumble and sent off brown clouds of dust and thundered dangerously. "She must be here." Ronin stated sourly.

"How should we greet her?" Yuri asked as she pulled out a dagger and stroked it like a pet.

"Properly."

The ceiling caved in and in a whirl of dust and limestone I feel a good fifteen feet down onto the slippery obsidian floor. I rubbed my sore arms and legs while coughing up dust. It was a little surprising; this lair was completely different from the other one: Several torches ignited with enchanted flames placed about the walls provided bright sun-like light, there were several pieces of furniture, and it was unusually humid. I pushed myself up with a painful grimace and glared at the two misty shadows behind the curtain of dust. As if pulled away, the dust hastily settled onto the floor; I could see Ronin staring down at me as if I were a helpless ant and he the maniacal two-year-old with a magnifying glass. I struggled to my feet and, ignoring the immense pain, I ran.

This turned out to be a really stupid thing to do. As soon as I started, I stopped: as far as I could see, there was no way out except the accidental hole in the ceiling.

"I suppose no one taught you that it's impolite to drop in without notice?" Yuri snickered. I looked both of them over and nearly fainted when I saw all of their weapons. _Time for bravado._ I put on my poker face to make it seem like I wasn't afraid of them, but truthfully, I was scared shitless.

"Judging by how you're dressed, I'd come to the conclusion that you were expecting me." I remarked snidely, holding my head higher and puffing up my shoulders. Ronin wasn't fooled quite so easily. His eyes narrowed as his eyes drifted to the swiftly pulsing orb hung around my neck.

"Tut-tut. You're not in any place to make rude remarks… Why…why don't you have a seat?" Ronin motioned to a baleful-looking chair off in the far corner. This seemed too suspicious. "Do you think I'm an idiot? What kind of person asks their enemy to 'take a seat'?" I snorted.

"_Take a seat_." Ronin repeated harshly. I sighed: what choice did I have? It was either refuse and fight, or let him talk for a while and then fight. I wanted to buy all the time that I could for Kiyoshi, Ryou, and Kish to get here. With great constraint, I lowered myself into the hard oak chair. Closer up it was a little prettier, but it gave me the creeps just looking at its satanic carvings in the armrests. Ronin and Yuri seated themselves in a tall recliner across from the chair I was forced into. Yuri eased herself onto his lap without any shame, which brought back the horrid images of Ryou and Lettuce; I forced my eyes away from the sight with a shudder. Ronin cleared his throat.

"So, if you wanted me to come and chat with you, what's the point in being loaded with weapons?" I pointed out. Ronin closed his arms around Yuri and sneered.

"It seems there has been a slight change in plan. Here's what I'm offering: You give me one little itsy bitsy thing, and I'll let you and your little horde of freedom fighters out of here unharmed, no strings attached."

I threw a glance at my watch: this wasn't taking nearly long enough. _I need to stall…_

"Uh…you know, I like what you've done with the place. Gee, there's not even any spiderwebs or anything…" I said. Yuri smiled brightly.

"You like it? I convinced Ronny to let me decorate it. Of course he insisted we use the old furniture--."

"Silence!" Ronin demanded above Yuri's jabbering.

"…_Ronny?_" I started to laugh.

"Stop being circumlocutious!"

"Circum..lo…"

"Stop avoiding the subject, you IMBECILE!"

I grinned mischievously: Ronin was one of those people that you just have to mess with sometimes. "Okay, Ronny--."

"_That's not my name!_" Ronin's face started to turn a plum colour.

"Oh, sorry. _Ronin_, what is it you want, then?" I teased. He took a breath and clutched the sides of his chair before speaking.

"I want the orb."

"What orb?"

"The orb that hangs from your filthy throat." Ronin strained to speak calmly.

I picked up the orb and looked at it. "This orb?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"_Because_!"

"Well, I can't hand it over without a good reason." I crossed my arms at my chest and looked away. _Come on, Kiyoshi, I can't keep this up forever…_

**Labrynth**

"Take that, you stupid bird!" Kish threw down a massive clump of lightning from his palms and knocked Carden into the wall, sending dust and debris into the air. Kiyoshi, Ryou, and Kish paused and waited to see if he would arise: he didn't. Ryou slumped onto the floor and sighed. "God, I thought he'd never die." Kiyoshi stared at him. "You have no idea how weird that sounded."

Kiyoshi grabbed the back of Ryou's shirt and hoisted him up. "Hey--!"

"C'mon, we have to go help Komori!"

**Lair**

"If you prefer, I could go ahead and kill you and just take it from you." Ronin growled.

"Naw, that's okay."

"Then give it to me!"

"Tell me why and I might." I bantered, secretly glancing at my watch. _Why does he want the orb? All it does is glow green. _

Ronin stared at me for a minute with his piercing blood-red eyes. He gently slid Yuri off his lap and got up from his chair, coming towards me. He snapped his slender fingers and to my utter surprise, several thick vines twisted from the ground and bound my arms and legs to the chair. "W-what?" Ronin flashed his bright teeth at me and draped his arm over the back of the chair. "Oh? You didn't know you were in a cursed chair? Perhaps I should've mentioned that. Now, are you a bit more willing to cooperate with my terms?"

"Just tell me why you want the orb. It's not like I can reach up and grab it or anything." I struggled to free my arms from their bonds.

"True," Ronin began to pace, "I suppose I will, then." He reached for the orb and held it as delicately as if it were a robin's egg. For a short, rare second, a happy grin painted across Ronin's face. It faded after just a second, but in that one second, it made me think of him more like a person. More like an actual living thing than an opposing force that I had to get rid of. "This orb is known as the Chalice of Life. I've been hunting it for countless years; this Earth takeover is just on the side." _Yeah, just keep talking._

"It provides life to whoever commands it. It becomes a piece of them and mocks their life. Once their life is over, the Chalice will revive the owner."

"But, that can't be right: I found the orb on the neck of a dead creature. Why didn't the creature come back if the orb is supposed to revive its owner?"

Ronin chuckled and patted my head with pity. "Probably because the creature wasn't the owner of the Chalice. By the way, it was a griffin. I had Carden destroy it, but the imbecile didn't retrieve the Chalice. Your friends should have destroyed him by now…Hm, I suppose he destroyed them."

"You… you killed it." I whispered quietly. _He killed it. He killed that beautiful griffin, who hadn't done anything except wear a chain around his neck._

"Slow on the uptake, are we? Now, do you accept my generous offer, or…the alternative?"

"I have no need for it. But I don't trust that you'll keep your promise." I squinted at him through my suspicious gaze. I was growing desperate. _If Ronin gets his hands on the Chalice of Life he'll be impossible to kill…if that's possible. Kiyoshi, where are you?_

"GAH!" a blob of movement fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor in a heap. Ronin whipped around and glared angrily at the heap.

"God, Kiyoshi! Just drag us into the void, why don't you?" Kish screamed as he pushed Ryou off him. Kiyoshi stood without a word and stared back at Ronin. He shook his head. "Of all the things, Ronin. I knew you were a habitual murderer, but a _thief_!" Kiyoshi gasped falsely and strode to Ronin, who was now gripping the Chalice in his palm, but still let it hang from my neck. "Finders keepers, Kiyoshi." Ronin replied.

Kiyoshi gritted his teeth. "It doesn't belong to you, Ronin."

"Really? Well, then, observe!" Ronin cackled and removed the chain from my neck and held it up triumphantly. My neck felt naked and cold without the chain's weight. Ronin snapped his fingers again and the vines withered away. "There's no further use to keep you tied. Yuri, what should I do with these idiots?" Ronin called to Yuri.

"I don't know, Ronin. Just get it over with; you're starting to scare me a little." She replied.

"Ronin, wait! The Chalice won't--!" Kiyoshi started; Ronin put his hand up to silence him.

"Now, time to embrace immortality!" Ronin grinned and slowly lowered the chain around his neck.

Kiyoshi sighed. "Oy."


	40. Untimely Frost

**Chapter Forty: Untimely Frost **

"_Death lies upon her like and untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field."_

_--The Tragic Tale of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare_

The orb flashed its usual green for one moment, but then a sinister black flowed inside the orb; not the regular sort of black, icy black. It beat along with the steady pacing of Ronin's heart, which I didn't even know he had. "I have no use for you now." He held his hands out at his sides and out of his gauntlets slid a glistening blade. I darted to Kiyoshi's side; we were all nearly in a formation. Kiyoshi turned to me. "Komori, I want you to take Ryou and Kish and get out of here!" he yelled to me. I crossed my arms and lifted my eyebrow. "Nuh-uh. I'm staying right here." I unsheathed my sword and struck a fighting pose next to him. He looked and me and scratched his head. "I think that's one of the reasons I love you: you're always interfering with my fights."

Ronin's face lit up with menace as he darted to us. I planted my feet on the ground, but only to be knocked down by Ronin; he pushed me out of the way. He was going for Kiyoshi. Ronin slashed away at Kiyoshi with the blades, but Kiyoshi blocked them with his sword. Ronin reached to his side and pulled out his curved saber from its sheath and started attacking with it along with one of the gauntlet blades. I pulled myself to my feet with the aid of a nearby coffee table and tried to get to Kiyoshi, but someone's arm blocked me. "What?" I turned to see it was Ryou.

"This is Kiyoshi's fight. He said he doesn't want you to help, so don't. We'll step in if he needs us." Ryou said. Kish appeared at my other side and comfortingly put his hand on my shoulder. "He'll be all right: he's a tough kid." He commented as he watched Kiyoshi and Ronin continue to duel and tussle.

Ronin wasn't losing any energy; the Chalice's power was evident. Kiyoshi was starting to wear down and I knew he wouldn't last much longer at this rate. Ronin started going even faster and nearly landed a few strikes on Kiyoshi.

I wheeled around to Ryou and Kish in despair. "Please! He's going to be hurt! We have to step in!" I pleaded. They lowered their eyes and grimly shook their heads and still held me back.

Ronin was steadily pushing Kiyoshi back into one of the far corners. My stomach quivered as if it had some sort of precognition. "Kiyoshi! He's pushing you back!" I yelled across the room in panic, not sure what else I could do. I wasn't sure if my warning had made it across the room as anything more than a muffled echo over Kiyoshi and Ronin's shouts. Regardless, Kiyoshi was still being forced back into a corner. I looked at Ryou and Kish, who were staring and grimacing, but they still weren't letting themselves move to Kiyoshi's aid.

He was now closed in, and the expression on his face said he knew it. You could see he was struggling to fend off Ronin, who was still coming at him like a whirlwind. A few strikes from Ronin's saber landed on Kiyoshi's arms. _Call for help, Kiyoshi! Call for us before you get hurt any more!_

Kiyoshi let out a low shout and lunged at Ronin with his sword, but missed. Ronin took the opportunity and drove his fist right into Kiyoshi's chest. Kiyoshi grunted as Ronin's gauntlet blade dove into the soft material of his shirt and directly into his heart. Ronin withdrew his fist with a jerk and Kiyoshi fell crashed to the floor and settled into the dust.

A cold freeze swept into my veins. My beating heart turned to stone and weighed down on my frostbitten lungs, my blood to ice, and my skin numb. Everyone else in the room faded out of my sight except for Ronin. The beast slipped the knife covered in Kiyoshi's blood back into his gauntlet and chuckled.

Ryou and Kish turned to me with concern and pulled me into their arms and whispered soothing words into my deaf ears. It was a hollow comfort: I was already gone. Gone and floating somewhere else, anywhere else away from this nightmare that I thought I would wake from any moment, all the terror gone and tucked snugly into my sickening pink bed I now missed so much. I opened and shut my eyes, but I didn't wake up. Kiyoshi lay on the floor unmoving with his face down on the floor, his life spilling out of him. I didn't cry. I couldn't cry; all I could do was look at Ronin and how he laughed with triumph and spite as a hunter would after butchering his innocent prey.

I shoved away Ryou and Kish's hugs and words of solace and walked to Ronin despite their pulling on me to come back, but I continued to move forward. Ronin's eyes lazily drifted to me and narrowed while he grinned. _Why are you smiling?_ I broke my eyes away from his and I kneeled by Kiyoshi's side. I sat in a pool of his blood, his life, and stroked his cheek softly: it was still warm. His eyes were shut and his face was relaxed as if in a pleasant sleep. The chill of death's spidery fingers had not yet met his godlike face, his raven hair, or his electric green eyes hidden under his pale eyelids. Ronin's shadow lingered over me, I had to tear my eyes from Kiyoshi's dead face to meet Ronin's alive, enraged one. He sneered and looked down on me expectantly. "Well? Aren't you going to sob? Sniffle? Hm, that's mildly disappointing." He kneeled down and inspected his work. "Well, I didn't even need the Bleeding Heart plant toxin. Ha! That's ironic! Bleeding Heart for a bleeding heart!" Ronin laughed.

"That may be, but the good die young, standing for what they believe, while the evil live for ever and have to live with their past treacheries and sins. You will reside in the shadows, your precious Yuri will have left you, and you'll be left to lament all alone. If fate is good to you, it will take your life and be merciful." I muttered so no one other than Ronin could hear me. He stared at me for a moment, genuinely frightened of my words.

Ronin's eyes widened and he suddenly recoiled back in pain, clutching his chest. _Can words really cause physical harm?_ He began to screech and writhe on the floor as if a spear had been stuck into his stomach. Yuri wailed and ran to his side, shoving me over and running her hands over him, trying to soothe his invisible pain.

"W-what's h-h-happening?" Ronin gasped. The orb's black shimmer dimmed and Ronin calmed down for that short time frame. I thought he was about to sit back up when the orb enlivened with the chipper hues of the rainbow. Ronin was past pure pain: now he was in so much agony he couldn't even scream. _He doesn't deserve this. No one deserves to die. Not even one that kills._ Yuri had given up and ran over to the corner to stare on in horror. I came to Ronin's side and tried to take off the Chalice from his neck, but it was as if it were cemented onto his body. The lights intensified to where my retinas were being fried; there was nothing I could do for Ronin.

The light dimmed somewhat and let us all witness one of the strangest, ugliest, most beautiful things any of us had ever witnessed. An angelic light shone from both Ronin and Kiyoshi. A fuchsia light lifted from Ronin's chest and skimmed through the pure light in the air to Kiyoshi. The orb lifted itself from Ronin's neck and followed the fuchsia glow. The glow settled itself onto Kiyoshi's chest, right where his bleeding heart was, and sank into it as if he were water. The blood on the floor flowed back into Kiyoshi. His flesh knitted back together as the orb settled back over his neck. The lights faded and the only light in the lair was that from the enchanted torches at the walls.

Ronin lay lifeless and stiff on the floor: his cheeks and eyelids were blue with death. Yuri threw herself over him and started to sob. "Ronin! Ronin! Wake up! Oh please…please wake up!" Yuri gasped through her tears. I lightly touched her shoulder, as if it would be any compensation. She shoved my hand off and continued to grieve over his body. I more than anyone knew what she was feeling, and I knew that there's no cure for it except time.

Ryou and Kish darted over to me with small grins on their faces. They silently picked me up from the floor and took me over to where Kiyoshi lay. A healthy, alive glow came from Kiyoshi's soft ivory skin. A spark of hope melted my frostbitten spirit. His lips were returning to their usual warm color and his eyelids fluttered slightly. My heart jumped and leaped and danced with glee in my chest. Kiyoshi's eyes slid open and his gorgeous crystalline eyes shifted directly to my face. He tentatively raised his stiff arm and held my face in his palm. He smiled weakly and whispered, "Komori?" I held his hand in mine and stared through tears at my beautiful miracle. Kiyoshi laughed lightheartedly and slowly pulled himself up from the floor that had been his grave. I pulled him to me and wrapped my arms around his waist and tacitly vowed to never let go again. He ruffled my dirty hair playfully. "Nice to see you, too." Kish and Ryou couldn't contain their excitement and relief either; they tackle-hugged Kiyoshi and I, squealing how sorry they were and how thankful they were that he was back. After managing to dampen our hysterics, Kiyoshi cleared his throat and tried to be more serious.

"So…what happened?" Kiyoshi asked, staring at Yuri sobbing over Ronin's corpse.

"We're not even sure." Ryou mumbled.

"Tell me what you saw, then, even if you don't understand it. I'll try to fill in the blanks." Kiyoshi said and pulled me a little closer to him and cradling me like a helpless infant.

"You had just been…killed, and Komori, being the absolute nutcase that she is, walked over to Ronin and said something to him…then he just started screaming and convulsing…" Ryou explained, getting quieter when he said 'killed'. Kiyoshi turned to me. "What did you say?" he asked softly. I could tell he was sorry that he'd given me such a scare, not that he really could have prevented it.

"Heh. I just gave him some insight into his future; I guess I was a little off." I sniffled.

"And then?"

"Then…he started screaming and clutching his chest like there was a fire inside him. It seemed to me that the Chalice had something to do with it since it started going wacko right when he started screaming. Then he just…died."

"Oh! And this freaky pink light came out of him and settled right on your wound. After that the orb settled around your neck, and here you are, as healthy as could be." Kish added. Kiyoshi chuckled and fingered the pulsing orb. "A dog never forgets his true master." Kiyoshi laughed. Kish, Ryou, and I stared at him with puzzled faces.

"Who do you think Ronin stole the Chalice of Life from in the first place? Why do you think I've been chasing him like this? The Chalice of Life belongs to my family. To me. It won't work for anyone except the owner it chooses." Kiyoshi glanced at Ronin and shook his head in an I-told-you-so way. "Commanding the Chalice can have dire consequences if you're not its chosen master."

I stared at Kiyoshi blandly and gave him a soft slap on the cheek. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For not telling us that in the first place! Do you know how scared we were?"

Kiyoshi giggled and hit the back of my head in response.

"I tried to, but I was interrupted by Ronin, the stupid bastard."

Ryou stood and dusted off his filthy jeans. "I think we should get out of here before something else happens." He said, glancing at Yuri and flinching at her cacophonous wails.

"What should we do with Miss Mandrake over there?" Kish asked as he stood up; Kiyoshi took my hand and yanked me up as well. We watched Yuri, together in silence, not sure what to do; and many times in the future we would still look back and cringe at her wails and filled with despair at knowing there was nothing to do.

"Leave her to mourn. Let her decide her own path: if she needs our aid, she'll ask for it. Let's get out of here." Kiyoshi concluded, grasping my hand.

"Kish," Kiyoshi asked, "Do you have enough energy to transport us back to Ryou's house?"

"Mansion." Ryou corrected; Kish nodded and herded us all together.

"Three, two, one." Kish counted down. Just before we faded away, I took one last glance at Yuri. She had stopped wailing and stared at us with angst and envy burning in her eyes. I had lost Kiyoshi, and she lost Ronin, but I got Kiyoshi back. I still couldn't destroy the pang of guilt in my side even after she faded from my sight and the blessed vision of home painted its way onto my eyes. The night was cool, but humid; the perfect blend. The windows had a warm glow from lights on inside.

Ryou flung himself on the concrete steps and kissed them gratefully. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Kish rolled his eyes and stepped over Ryou to get into the house. I leaned my head on Kiyoshi's shoulder and sighed gratefully. He kissed my neck and led me into the house.


	41. Kin Hoshi

**Chapter Forty-One: Kin Hoshi**

AN: I know, I know; no update for a _really_ long time. I've been lazy and this chapter took quite a bit of thinking and re-doing since the first draft looked like crap and sounded like a cheesy soap opera. So without further ado, I present the final chapter of "Held Loosely"! Thanks for reading/putting up with me and be on the lookout for a sequel of sorts a little later on. ((AutumnXMidnight))

"_For such things as honour and love and faith are not only nobler than food and drink, but indeed I think we desire them more, and suffer more sharply for their absence. I speak to you as I think you will most easily understand me. Are you not, while careful to fill your belly, disregarding your appetite in your heart, which spoils the pleasure of your life and keeps you continually wretched?_" –"A Lodging for the Night", Robert Louis Stevenson

It felt so strange walking into the house; it seemed like a foreign planet. Everything looked as if it were seen through the eyes of a stranger. Tart and Pai sat on the couch, casually gorging on Ryou's arsenal of strawberry ice cream. Keiichiro hopped up from his seat at the far corner of the room and drew all four of us into a snug group hug. "Oh my God! You guys were gone for two days! I'm so happy to see that you're all okay!" Keiichiro was nearly to tears. Pai and Tart were barely ruffled by our presence and just nodded to us and continued to drool over the TV. After the group hug got broke up by Kish, Keiichiro pulled me into a tight hug. "And I'm especially glad to see you." He rasped while he tried to hide his tears of relief.

"And you have no idea how glad I am to see you!" I rasped back, not really sure what emotion I was feeling. Keiichiro released me from his death grip and wiped his eyes. "Now, I think it's time to fill me in on everything. But before that, I think you people need some food, a shower, and sleep." Keiichiro smiled.

"A shower would be heavenly." Kiyoshi sighed.

**Later, Up in My Room**

I strode out of the bathroom in my bathrobe feeling clean and trouble free. It was like all my worries and doubts just went down the drain. I leapt onto my bed and pushed my face into the lacy pillow and for a moment considered skipping dinner and just falling into immediate sleep. I glanced at my pink digital clock; it glowed the bright pink numbers 1:32 through the cozy dark. My eyes nearly shut on an impulse just after seeing the time, but my stomach protested loudly and forced me out of bed to dinner.

Keiichiro set the table with plastic ware instead of the usual elaborate china. He looked up when I stumbled into the kitchen.

"I hope you like pizza." He said as he reached into the oven and pulled out a metal tray with two giant pepperoni pizzas stacked on it. The scent wafted to my nose and was nearly too much to bear.

"Right now even grits sound appetizing." I replied, staring hungrily at the pizzas and taking a seat at the table. Kiyoshi and Ryou walked in through the flapping door and groaned as soon as they smelled the pizza. Keiichiro enjoyed their expense and made a show of slicing the pizzas and placing the slices on the plastic plates.

"C'mon, Keiichiro, have some mercy here." Kiyoshi pleaded as he took the seat next to me.

"Mwahaha." Keiichiro chuckled, placing the plates in front of us. "So," he said as he took a seat at the table next to Ryou, "What on earth happened?" We were all silent for a moment, trying to string together the events that had happened only a few hours ago. "Um…Well, Komori ran away, then I got Kish and we went to look for her. Then Kish said we should go and ask Kiyoshi if he knew. After he let us into his house, he grabbed us and dragged us out into the rain to look for her." Ryou started.

"Okay." Keiichiro said flatly.

"So we looked down a lot of alleys and stuff until Kish flung himself on the ground to pout and this giant hole just swallowed him up! And Kiyoshi, being the intelligent person he is, dragged me into the hole after Kish. Is that right so far?" Kiyoshi and Kish nodded.

"We fell through the tunnel for a long time until we fell into this really dark room made of stone. A wall had already been blasted apart, so we just went through the opening. Komori, was it you that did that?"

"Uh-huh."

"Cool. So then we went through this pitch-black hallway (which ended up being a labrynth), Kiyoshi leading the way and swearing that he could _smell_ Komori…

"And Ryou kept swearing he heard something. The sissy…" Kish teased.

"I am not!"

"Yeah you are, Ryou." Kiyoshi agreed through a mouthful of pizza.

"_Whatever_. After walking forever, we came upon this dead creature. Then we ran into Carden, this tengu that was hired by Ronin to kill us."

"I'd like to add," I said, "that the Chalice was on that creature: that's where I got it from."

"The what?" Keiichiro asked, getting lost in the conversation.

"I'll get to that later. So then…" Ryou continued telling the story animatedly with big hand motions. I felt my eyelids shut and started to drift off to sleep.

"Komori? Komoriiiiii…" Kiyoshi snapped his fingers in front of my face a few times until I jolted awake. "Wha--?"

"You fell asleep, silly."

"Oh." I grumbled and yawned. It seemed everyone had left the kitchen to their cozy beds for a good night's sleep. Kiyoshi chuckled and draped his arms around my shoulders. "I think a certain someone needs to go to bed." He hissed in my ear.

"Mm." I leaned into his arms and shut my eyes, starting to drift away again. "Silly." I heard Kiyoshi huff, pick me up, and hoist me over his shoulder without much effort.

Morning

Snippets of dappled morning light slipped through the tightly shut blinds and warmed my pillow. I opened my eyes, confused that I was staring up at my bubblegum-pink ceiling. _How did I get up here?_ A pressure encircled my waist; I twisted around. _Kiyoshi?_

Kiyoshi was asleep, his eyelids closed peacefully and his arms wrapped around my waist like a child's around a teddy bear. I felt an all-too-familiar heat well up on my face. _Oh my god…He slept with me! What do I do? Should I wake him up? …He's cute when he sleeps… But what if Ryou comes in and gets the wrong idea? I want to wake him up…but he's so cute…_

Kiyoshi's eyes squinted and lazily opened to reveal his shining green eyes behind a veil of his raven hair. "Mn? Komori…" he muttered, caressing my face with his hand.

"Morning." I smiled. He grinned crookedly and leaned in towards me.

"Morning." Kiyoshi whispered back, closing his eyes and kissing my lips. I shut my eyes and let myself slip into his kiss as his grip around my waist tightened. He pulled away and buried his face into my neck. "Kiyoshi!" I giggled.

An impatient knock rapped on the door. "Komori! Komori, are you awake?" Ryou yelled through the door. Kiyoshi and I sat up and coughed nervously. I pulled myself out of bed and motioned for Kiyoshi to hide. Yawning, I opened the door. "No, I'm still asleep." I grumbled sarcastically.

"Ha ha. Look, Komori, I've got something important to tell you--."

"You're pregnant."

"NO! Your mother's coming!"

"What?" I could feel my pupils dilate.

"Yeah! The whole 'Ronin' ordeal had her really worried, so she hopped on the first flight she could get. I just found out this morning! God, the house is a nightmare! I have to clean!"

"I'm still confused."

"So am I. Get dressed, find Kiyoshi, and I don't know, clean something!" Ryou finished and darted down the stairs, presumably to straighten up the chaotic mess downstairs. "Did you get all that?" I called out the window to Kiyoshi.

"Yeah. God, talk about short notice, huh?" He laughed, leaning up against the window pane.

"Uh-huh." I muttered as I ran over to my dresser and started to shovel my way through piles of clothes to find something to wear.

"What are you doing?"

"Hunting for something to wear."

"Want me to help?"

"If you want."

Kiyoshi hopped off the pane and started to dig through my dresser's contents. "Woah!" He shouted and shut the drawer.

"What? Was there a snake in there or something?"

"Worse! It was a lacy bra!"

"…Oh yeah. That's my underwear drawer."

"Thanks for the warning. I think I'll just go sit on the bed and count the dots on the ceiling or something…"

**Downstairs, ****楼下**

"Keiichiro! What's her status?" Ryou yelled to Keiichiro as he raced around the parlor trying to clean. "She should be at the airport in an hour! Do you want me to pick her up?"

"Please! And try to drive slowly; this place is a disaster and I need every minute I can get! Hey, don't just sit there, help me!" Ryou shouted at Kish, Pai and Tart, who were lying on the couch smacking on stale potato chips.

**Upstairs, ****楼下**

"Do I look presentable?" I asked Kiyoshi, twirling around like a model.

"You look absolutely lovely." He yawned.

"Thanks for caring." I shook my head and headed for the door.

"Hey, wait for me!"

**Airport, ****机场**

Keiichiro leaned back in his chair and glanced back at the gateway. _Mabel should be getting here in a few minutes…_ A steady stream of people started to pour out of the makeshift hallway with disgruntled expressions and bags under their eyes. A woman amid the crowd ran up to Keiichiro and gave him a hug. "Keiichiro!"

"Mabel! I haven't seen you in ages!" Keiichiro laughed and ruffled her bright blonde hair. A grave man carting a small bag stepped from the crowd and stood behind Mabel.

"Who's this?" Keiichiro asked politely, trying to hide the chills the man sent up his spine. There was just something about his stare…

"This is Kin. Komori's father," Mabel's smile faded as she motioned to Kin, "Sorry, I forgot to mention he was coming along."

"It's no trouble at all. Here, let me get that for you…" Keiichiro started to take the baggage from Kin, but Kin kept a firm grip on it.

"I would rather carry it myself, thank you." He said coldly.

"Right. So…uh, the limo's this way, if you'll follow me." Keiichiro muttered. _I see where she gets her social skills from._

**Parlor,** **客厅**

"Quick! Stuff those old cheetos under the couch cushion!" Ryou ordered Kish.

"Ryou, I don't think that qualifies as 'cleaning'." I chuckled from my perch at the top of the stairs.

"Komori! She'll be here any minute! Hurry! Clean something!" Ryou frantically darted around the room.

"The place looks fine; calm down." I strode down the stairs. Ryou latched onto my shoulders and shook me.

"She'll think I'm not responsible! THIS WILL RUIN MY REPUTATION!"

"But you're not responsible. Let's see: You let Kish cook himself with the toaster, let me nearly bleed to death, oh, and my recent near-murdering by a psychotic alien…"

"Shut up!"

"It's true though!"

The doorbell rang out loudly. "How was I supposed to know you had chosen to go fight him?"

"And if you did…?"

"I would've laden you with weapons and told you to have fun!"

"_NO_ _NORMAL PERSON DOES THAT!_"

Kish lazily looked towards the door. "I guess I'll get it." He grunted under our bantering. Kish pressed the intercom button and looked through the peep hole.

"Hey Keiichiro…Who're they?"

"They're Komori's parents, now let us in."

"You sure?"

"Yeeessss."

"M'kay." Kish opened the door.

"Thanks." Keiichiro muttered.

"You forget that I am not a normal person!" Ryou shouted back at me, freezing when he saw Mom had walked in. "Aunt Mabel!" Ryou walked over to her with a plastered-on smile and pulled her into a bear hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Ryou." She laughed. There was a tall man standing behind Mom that was staring straight at me, with unblinking tea-colored eyes. _Creepy…_

Mom came to me, looking me up and down. "Not bad, not bad at all…" she smiled and tackle-hugged me. "Oh Komori! I missed you so much!"

"Mom, could you please stop strangling me?" I whispered painfully.

"Oh, sorry." She sniffled and wiped away a tear. The man behind her cleared his throat and took a step forward. Mom grabbed his shoulders and pushed him towards me.

"Komori, this is your father, Kin. Kin, this is Komori." Mom said slowly.

_**WHAT?** He looks like he's twenty! He's way too young! _

"Komori, it's so nice to finally meet you." He reached out to touch me; I flinched. I was at a loss for words. What do you say to someone you thought was gone forever that just shows up one day? 'Hey, Dad, whatcha' been up to these past eleven years? Me and Mom have been fine, you know, living in a run-down apartment and everything while you were out doing stuff that was _obviously_ more important to you than us.'

"I-I…." I tried to talk, but I still couldn't think of anything to say.

"Naturally it will take you a while to get over the shock." He smiled and turned to Ryou. "If you could be so kind as to show us to a room. We're exhausted."

"Of course." Ryou led mom and the man that claimed to be my dad upstairs to one of the various guest rooms.

I lowered myself onto the couch and buried my face in my hands. Kiyoshi rushed from his quiet position in the corner of the room to sit by me and wrap his arms around my shoulders. "You okay?" he asked quietly, pulling me to him.

"I guess."

"I know him."

"What?"

"I know him."

"Who?"

"Your father."

"What?"

"I know him."

"I got that part. _How_ do you know him?"

"Well…" Kiyoshi started to get nervous.

"Kiyoshi…" I said warningly.

"At least I think I do…I'm a little reluctant to say it since it really doesn't make any sense…"

"Tell me!"

"Um…maybe later."

"C'mon!"

"No, not until later."

"You shouldn't lead me on like that if you're going to do that."

"Sorry." Kiyoshi placed a kiss on my cheek apologetically.

"You promise you'll tell me?"

"Yes, I promise." I leaned into his arms and shut my eyes. "You know what I don't get?"

"Hm?"

"Why he left. I don't even think mom knew…"

"I'm sure he'll offer an explanation."

"Yeah."

"Sorry to break up this touching moment, but I must warn you that they're coming back downstairs." Keiichiro pointed out from his perch in the armchair. Kiyoshi and I pulled away from each other and sat upright staring at the blank TV screen.

"Sorry that there's not many decorations or anything. I haven't gotten around to all that yet, although I need to…" Ryou said to Mom and the man I refused to identify as my father just yet.

"Who's this, Komori?" Mom motioned to Kiyoshi, who immediately stood and went to her with his hand outstretched.

"I'm Kiyoshi Yamamoto. Komori's boyfriend." Kiyoshi smiled as he shook my Mom's hand. 'Dad' was analyzing Kiyoshi from head to foot through scrutinizing eyes. Mom gasped and hopped up and down excitedly.

"Komori! You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah." I grunted while I strode over to Kiyoshi's side. He was having some sort of tacit stare-off with 'Dad'.

"It is nice to meet you." 'Dad' shook Kiyoshi's hand stiffly.

"Same here… _sir_." Kiyoshi replied blandly.

"So! Who's in the mood for lunch?" Keiichiro interrupted.

"I am!" I yelled and raced to the kitchen, following Keiichiro. The signs were showing that today would be one of those really weird oh-crap-Kish-got-stuck-in-the-oven-again days.

**Later, ****更迟**

Lunch had been all but comfortable, with 'Dad' and Kiyoshi having silent stare-downs, Kish and Tart's across-the-table food fights, and Mom's embarrassing childhood stories she insisted on cramming into Kiyoshi's head. Try putting up with all that and still attempting to carry on a semi-intelligent conversation with Keiichiro, the only other person that wanted a peaceful, awkward-free lunch.

"I'm going up to my room." I grumbled after clearing the table. Kiyoshi followed instinctively, of course.

"Komori," 'Dad' called after me as I bounded up the stairs with Kiyoshi tagging behind, "I would like to speak with you later. All right?"

"Okay." I muttered hastily.

**Parlor, ****客厅**

"Is she still being cold towards you?" Mabel asked Kin as he sighed and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"You weren't kidding when you said she was a sourpuss."

"She gets it from you." Mabel nudged his arm.

"I suppose I can't blame her."

"When you explain I'm sure she'll understand." Mabel reassured him.

"Now I just have to figure out how I will explain…"

"It is a pretty wacky story…"

"Are you saying that you do not believe me?"

"It's just so…out there, Kin."

**Upstairs, ****楼下**

"Will you tell me why you two were having a stare down all through lunch?" I asked Kiyoshi as soon as I shut the door behind me.

"I'll explain everything later. I'd like to talk to him before I say anything, okay?" Kiyoshi stated.

"ARGH!" I screamed. "I am sick and tired of waiting, waiting, waiting! I'm going to be old and grey and wrinkly before I find out a thing!" I huffed and flung myself on my bed, screaming angrily into the pink fluff of my pillows. Kiyoshi took a breath and laid next to me, grabbing hold of my waist. "I think a certain someone needs a nap." He whispered into my ear softly.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Shut up."

Kiyoshi sighed, got up, and made for the door. "I'll go talk to him right now, okay?"

"Mmf." I grumbled. I heard him sigh again and firmly shut the door behind him.

**Downstairs, ****楼下**

"Kin, could I have a word with you?" Kiyoshi bellowed as he bounded down the steps. Kin promptly stood from his place on the couch and simply nodded to Kiyoshi. "Why don't we go outside?" Kin motioned to the front door. Kiyoshi nodded in response and wordlessly followed Kin out the door.

"We have much to discuss, don't we?" Kin chuckled while taking a seat on the cold concrete steps.

"Yes, we certainly do. God, I never would have suspected you were my girlfriend's father."

"Ironically enough. Anyways, I have already told Mabel my story, but it's easy to see that she doesn't believe me. I suppose I can't blame her."

"Komori will believe you."

"Really? What makes you so confident?" Kin chuckled.

"She's had some paranormal adventures of her own." Kiyoshi smiled.

"Such as?"

"Do you remember those Mew Mews a few years back?"

"Yes."

"Turns out Ryou was the one that created them and Komori somehow got into his lab, and…"

"Turned herself into one?" Kin didn't seem that surprised.

"Precisely. It happened shortly after I chased Ronin here, so naturally he came after her since she was spoiling his plans."

"Have you found out how to get rid of him yet?"

"Yup. Thanks to Komori he's gone for good." Kiyoshi beamed proudly.

"_What?_ That's incredible! Are we still talking about the same person?"

"She's chock full of surprises. I'm pretty sure she'll believe you after all the paranormal hell she's been through." Kiyoshi nudged Kin in the side.

"I suppose. But I'm not sure if she'll forgive me even if I do explain…"

"It's worth a shot. She really wants to know."

"…All right." Kin pulled himself to his feet and determinedly swung open the front door.

**Upstairs, ****楼下**

_This day has been nothing but a crock of shit. Maybe Ryou has some sort of machine that can let you switch lives with someone. Takara looks like she has a pretty cozy life…No weird aliens or disappearing dads. Yeah, I'd like to be Takara. Ryou has pretty lax security, I could just break in. Yeah…_

"Komori?" came 'Dad's' muffled voice from the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

'Dad' and Kiyoshi walked in and took seats at the foot of my bed. "Komori, I owe you an explanation. Kiyoshi filled me in on your activities this year and I have to say that my adventures weren't unlike yours, and as you know, they all have a dark side to them that I would rather not remember."

"Which 'activities'?" I asked, suspiciously glancing at Kiyoshi.

"Fighting Ronin and such." Kiyoshi smiled. I threw him my I-will-murder-you-in-your-sleep glares.

"I fought him a few times myself. In fact, at one point Kiyoshi and I fought together."

"Wait, how did you get into the whole Ronin ordeal? And why did you leave?" I was still completely addled.

"Let me finish explaining." 'Dad' held his hand up patiently and continued. "As you know by now, Ronin likes hiding the entrances to his lairs in the strangest places, occasionally in the middle of roads or in abandoned houses. I was out one day, running some sort of errand, I can't even remember what it was now, and I somehow opened a portal that was in the middle of the road. I found myself falling and dropping into one of his unused lairs. It was there that I had met Kiyoshi, who was searching for Ronin, and who nearly attacked me, if I remember clearly."

"Sorry…" Kiyoshi mumbled.

"He had explained everything to me, and, after some time, I accepted it as reality. I had tried and tried to get back to you and your mother, or at least get my hands on a phone to see if you were all right. Kiyoshi just dragged me around as a sort of sidekick, tracking down Ronin all over the goddamn universe. After two years or so, I had given up hope that I would ever get back to my family. Kiyoshi and I had found Ronin several times and 'killed' him over and over, but he just wouldn't go away permanently. Eventually I separated from Kiyoshi to find my way back to Earth so I could get back to my family. It took me quite a few years to get back here. But here I am."

"A few questions: Why did mom say you left? Why do you look like you're still in your twenties? And how old was Kiyoshi when you met him?"

"Before I had gone, your mother and I had gotten into a fight and I suppose she thought I had walked out on you both. As for my age, the only explanation I can offer that makes sense would be that time passes differently in all the places I was in. It's like I was frozen in time and couldn't age. And Kiyoshi…well, he was about maybe eleven or so…"

"Ten." Kiyoshi corrected.

"Ten? Then how can you be sixteen?" I counted in my head and calculated that he should be twenty-one.

"Like I said, time passes differently."

"This is really weird…" I muttered, hugging one of my pillows for comfort. Dad pulled me into a sideways hug and ran his hand over my sheet of blonde hair.

"But I'm here, and that's all that matters." He mumbled and kissed my head. "Hm. You have your mother's hair…of course, hers has grey in it now." He chuckled, running his hand over his own spiky golden brown locks.

"Dad." I whispered and buried my face in his shirt, feeling the stinging of tears on my eyes. "Komori." He whispered back and lowered his head on mine. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks and gracefully trickled onto my hair.

"I'm home, I'm home..." he chanted through escaping tears.

**A Week Later…, ****一星期以后******

The café was absolutely packed; then again it always was on Saturdays. I had volunteered to sacrifice my glorious Saturday to help out and also forced myself to come to terms with the uniform; it's not that bad, aside from the itchy lace.

"Hey Komori! What can I do now?" Takara strode out of the kitchen clad in her sky blue café uniform. Oh? Did I forget to mention? She and Kiyoshi got jobs at the café! Although Kiyoshi hasn't quite gotten over _his_ uniform yet: a frilly magenta tuxedo (I picked it out myself).

"Table nine needs a refill on a soda." I called to her while trying to balance a tray full of dirty dishes. The bell on the front door jangled and I hurriedly snatched some menus and ran to greet the customers.

"Hajimemashite--." I started, noticing that they weren't ordinary customers, but Mom and Dad.

"I mean, welcome to Café Mew Mew!" I smiled.

"This is such a cute place, Komori! …It's kind of weird that Ryou would come up with something like this…" Mom gawked at the sugary decorations.

"We thought we would check it out." Dad smiled crookedly.

"Then follow me to your table, please." I said and motioned them to a table, setting the menus down.

"What do you recommend?" Mom glanced over the frilly menu.

"Kiyoshi makes a mean parfait and I'm starting to get the hang of making strawberry-banana crepes."

"I think I'll just have a peach smoothie. What do you want, Kin?"

"I'm fine. Sweets and I do not go together." Dad said, taking in the sugar-charged atmosphere and grimacing.

"Suit yourself," I shrugged, "One peach smoothie, coming right up." I squeezed through the crowd to the kitchen. "Peach smoothie!" I yelled to Kiyoshi, who nodded and haphazardly tossed me a smoothie. "Geez, just toss it at me, why don't you?" I grumbled.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm busy. Do I have to wear this uniform? Can't I get a blue one or something instead?"

"Nope!" I chuckled, half-skipping back to Mom and Dad and setting the smoothie in front of Mom.

"So that's twenty yen, right?" Mom started to dig into her purse. "It's on the house." I smiled.

"Ugh. I'm beat." Takara collapsed into a chair.

"I can't believe we made it to closing." Kiyoshi flopped into a chair next to her.

"C'mon, guys. It wasn't that…bad." I tried to perk them up while I swept crusty gummy bears and cake crumbs from under table three.

"Yeah, it was worse." Takara grunted.

"You sure did work hard, though." Mom commented from her seat next to Dad at their table. Ryou emerged from the storage hallway with Keiichiro at his heels pushing a cart covered by a white sheet.

"Great job, team!" Ryou clapped his hands, beaming like he'd just won a Nobel Prize.

"And to congratulate your hard work, here's a little treat from the two of us!" Keiichiro yanked off the white sheet to reveal a giant three-layer cake absolutely smothered in icing.

"Little?" I muttered.

"Oh God, please! No more icing! No more cake! No more _anything_ that contains any sugar!" Kiyoshi groaned.

"Well you're eating it, whether you want to or not. It's my new recipe!" Ryou pulled up Kiyoshi and pushed him towards the cart.

"Hell, why not?" I dropped my broom and carved a chunk of cake onto a plate. When Ryou had made sure that every living soul in the café was burdened with a portly slab of his newest concoction.

"Hey, this isn't half bad!" Takara exclaimed after taking a taste of the cake.

"I _told_ you." Ryou stuck his tongue out.

"Yeah, it's really good." I managed to say through a mouthful of the spongy mixture. Kiyoshi, who was stuffing his mouth full like a chipmunk, gave Ryou an animated thumbs-up.

"Komori," Mom stood and came to me, "We've been meaning to talk to you."

"Abouh wah?" I sputtered through cake morsels.

"Well…Your mother and I think you have grown into a mature young lady and learned quite a bit in your time here and…we would like you to come back home." Dad

"In…New York?"

"Of course." Mom grinned wider than I had seen in a long time. I lowered my eyes to the floor and gazed over at Kiyoshi, Takara, Ryou, and Keiichiro laughing over some joke. I could go back home now, leave this place, go back to my dark room in New York. But the thought of leaving this place, this frilly, incredibly annoying, beautiful place, put a weight in my chest that wouldn't lift. I had found so much life here, and I was pretty sure that going back to New York would kill every thing that I had gained. In New York there wouldn't be Kiyoshi, Takara, Café Mew Mew, psycho aliens getting caught in toasters, fencing, nothing. Just traffic and pigeon shit.

"I know that when I first got here I would've taken your offer in a heartbeat. But now, I just can't. I've found my place here and if I leave I'm positive that I would just go back to the way that I used to be. I'm happier here." I stared directly into their shocked eyes. After a moment Mom smiled slightly.

"Somehow I knew you would say that. If you're sure that this is what you want, I won't stop you."

"Although I will miss you, I understand." Dad placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled encouragingly. "I love you guys." I sniffled and yanked them into a giant bear hug.

_I'm finally home._


End file.
